I'm Mad, You're Mad
by jjhatter
Summary: One of the greatest rules in many beliefs is this: hold no hate for your enemy, but try to show them forgiveness, and help them see the light. Shen is living proof this rule can work. But, now, can he follow this rule himself? And, if he does, will it really do any good? Sequel to "Vexing Crimson!" R&R, Please!
1. Chapter 1

Hello, readers and/or friends! I hope you are all doing well! As the summary on the main page says, this is the sequel to my previous _Kung Fu Panda_ story, _Vexing Crimson._ If you haven't read it yet, DO IT. I can almost guarantee you that NOTHING here will make sense if you do not. Now, this story came to me while I was looking at the stories of Cryssy-miu and gothicorca1895, whom many characters in here belong to. (I AM USING THESE CHARACTERS WITH PERMISSION, SO, PLEASE, DON'T SUE ME! Also, my own personal OC, the devilish Maddohatta, returns here...though probably not in the way you are expecting.) I noticed that the story of Lord Shen these fanfics pattern follows a journey: he redeems himself (Cryssy-miu's _Redeeming Light_ and gothicorca1895's _If No One Will Listen_), saves the life of his best friend, whom he thought he killed _(Long Shot)_, discovers that someone else he thought he killed is still alive, finds her, and reconciles _(Keeping a Secret)_, and then finds love, something he thought he could never feel/have again _(The Great Escape)_. In _Vexing Crimson_, I tried to give Shen an enemy who would be a mirror of himself, so to continue on the "journey" theme the stories seem to have. To make this sequel, I needed to think about this question: what is left in this "journey" that Shen has to make? Well, the answer is here. But, before we can go into that, and answer that question, a few boring things must be taken care of...

Rating: T (just to be safe...I don't really know if I'll get up to that level, but still...)

Disclaimer: I own none of Cryssy-miu's, nor gothicorca1895's, OCs, nor any other character here. If they don't belong to those two fantastic authors, than they belong to the makers of the _Kung Fu Panda_ universe, which I also hold no ownership over. Only Maddohatta, and a few other characters that have not yet appeared, are mine.

Summary: One of the greatest rules in many beliefs is this: hold no hate for your enemy, but try to show them forgiveness, and help them see the light. Shen is living proof this rule can work. But, now, can he follow this rule himself? And, if he does, will it really do any good?

Notes: This whole chapter is just one big allusion to the _Alice_ stories by Lewis Carroll. As those of you who read the first story are aware, I am quite obsessed with these tales, so, while no other references are planned, do not be surprised if any show up.

And, now, ladies and gentlemen...boys and girls...undecided...I give you...

**Chapter 1: A Curious Dream**

Shen opened his eyes slowly.

He could smell salt...sand...

Was he by the ocean?

He sat up and looked around.

Yes...this was a beach.

Shen stood up. He looked down and stared in surprise.

He was wearing fine, silver silk robes...not unlike the ones he wore when...

He shivered, flames leaping before his mind's eye.

He looked up again.

The beach stretched on for miles, with no apparent end in sight. Shen looked up, and noted that the moon was visible, and that the Sun seemed to be setting, so that both were up at the same time. Shen narrowed his eyes, turning his head fast as a noise came to his ears, somewhere in the distance, behind the uneven dunes of the uneven beach shore.

He realized it was someone singing. He flinched slightly at the words he heard.

_"Twinkle, twinkle, little bird...freaky, foolish, and disturbed. Clip your wings, so you can't fly...kill you, cook you, serve on rye. Twinkle, twinkle, little bird...freaky, foolish, and disturbed..."_

Shen took a step, and felt his train bristle with knives.

He stopped moving, confused and surprised.

He hadn't carried so many knives since...

A cackling laugh and a vast, toothy grin now flashed before him.

He shivered again, harder now, and continued to move.

As he climbed the dune, and looked down, and his eyes widened even farther still.

Then, slowly, they narrowed again.

There was a large table, set out under a cherry tree – what such a tree was doing on a beach with sand dunes was beyond Sheng Li – and at it were seated three figures.

One was Kurisu, tied up and with a pair of rabbit ears strapped to her head, struggling fiercely, mouth gagged with a roll of cotton. Beside her sat another figure, apparently sleeping, cloaked in black.

And, at the far end of the table, sat a tall, thin figure with dark fur, dressed in a red and gold coat and a black top hat with a red hatband, and with long, feline ears, his long legs folded and slung over the tabletop.

This figure's own scarlet eyes narrowed, even as his fang-filled smile widened.

"No room," hissed Maddohatta softly, lifting a teacup up, and sipping the herbal blend within.

Shen moved down the dune.

"There's plenty of room," he said, his own voice now an avian hiss.

The demented panther chuckled darkly.

"Very well, if you say so...sit down, why don't you?"

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Kurisu shake her head urgently.

Shen ignored her; if he was to save his Itty Bitty Kitty, he would probably need to play whatever game the madman had concocted. He cautiously approached and sat down.

"Won't you have a cup of tea?" purred the cat in the hat, tilting his own cup towards a pot in the center of the table.

Shen glanced at the Chinese teapot, and shook his head silently.

Maddohatta shrugged, and took another drink.

"I half-thought you would be gone for good after that...little fall of yours."

The panther laughed.

"You can't get rid of me that easily, Sheng Li. Not anymore than you can rid yourself of the darkness that surrounds the silvery white of your robes and feathers."

"I rid myself of that long ago," Shen said.

The cat snorted.

"You cannot," he said flatly, almost superiorly. "That darkness emanates from your memories...memories of a past long dead. Long rotten. But, like many dead things, not totally forgotten."

Shen glared, but said nothing.

"Face it, Lord Shen," Maddohatta purred smoothly, smirking smugly. "Your heart is as black as mine. You turn your back, pretty little tail feathers and all, on today, so that you can live in yesterday. And the reason you do this? Because, my dear peacock prince, the light of the present is too much for your sore, scarlet eyes..."

"Shut your mouth!" snapped Shen, rising fast. "I've changed! Your proof that I've changed!"

"It's a mote point, my feathered fink," snarled the so-called Hatter, rising in his own seat menacingly. "Your past follows you wherever you go! And, if you don't believe me..."

Here Maddohatta pointed towards Kurisu's chair.

"Why don't you...look?"

Shen turned, slightly confused.

He gaped, horrified.

Kurisu lay slumped in her chair...a feather-shaped blade in her chest.

Shen stared. He felt his right eye twitch and brim with tears...

"You see?" Maddohatta growled. "That's one of your throwing daggers, isn't it?"

Shen stared, dumbstruck and stunned.

"But...I wouldn't...couldn't...I-I didn't even touch her..."

"Ah, but you did!"

Shen could have swore he felt something snap in his brain. He leapt at the panther, his halberd appearing, as if out of nowhere, in one wing. His metal-plated talons slamming into the maniac's chest, ripping at him. Maddohatta put up no fight as fur, blood, skin, and cloth flew from his own body...

"YOU DON'T KNOW ME!" Shen found himself screaming. "YOU DON'T KNOW ME! YOU. DON'T. KNOW...!"

He gasped and gagged as he felt something slam into him.

He looked up at the cloaked figure.

A set of white feathers, holding a familiar knife to his throat...

He stared up, his horror rising tenfold, as the black-cloaked thing removed its hood...revealing maddened red eyes, sickly white feathers, and a black, sharp beak curved into a twisted smile.

_"But I DO,"_ whispered the cloaked peacock.

Shen cried out as he felt the blade at his throat draw a bit of blood...

And then he woke up.

Shen sat upright, gasping for breath.

"Um...Shen?"

He turned...a little too fast, and still with a panicked expression, it seemed, for Lanying, his bride, flinched slightly when he faced her.

"Are you all right?"

Shen sighed, running his feathers over his face.

"Yes, my dear...just a nightmare..."

"Is it the one with..._him_ in it again?" asked the Java green peahen warily.

Shen nodded almost sadly.

"For five straight nights I've had it...it's going to drive me crazy again, I swear..."

He chuckled wryly.

"Perhaps the Soothsayer will enlighten me."

There was a pause.

"There," Shen said suddenly. "You see?"

Lanying blinked.

"Uh...well, actually...I really don't know what I'm supposed to be seeing."

Shen chuckled, this time more sincerely.

"I'm starting to just call Nana 'Soothsayer' again...next thing you know I'll be trying to blow up a rhinoceros."

Lanying smirked and rolled her eyes.

"You'll be fine...but you should talk to her. Maybe she can help."

"She probably can," Shen said with a yawn. "But I'll wait till tomorrow...when the celebration happens..."

The next day was the Winter Feast. Shen had promised a glorious extravaganza of fireworks for the Valley of Peace. Lanying smiled.

"Yeah," she said softly. "Big day tomorrow. I'm going to see if I can get to sleep, too...here's hoping no nightmares hit ME..."

Shen nodded grimly; Lanying, like himself, had suffered from panic attacks since she was a small child. Rather than assist her and console her, her parents had simply thought it best to lock her in a room for the rest of her days. Shen still bristled slightly at the thought...

He had had, and still had, panic attacks as well, but – perhaps because he had almost always had someone there for him, and, until recently, Lanying had not – his were usually less pronounced.

"Goodnight," he said simply, and then rolled over and tried to sleep.

But, even as the peahen beside him fell into slumber, he could not...not with the haunting whispers that seemed to buzz at the back of his mind...

Elsewhere, a lone figure entered the Valley of Peace. It was cold...it was tired...and, _madness,_ was it _HUNGRY..._

The black thing groaned softly, ducking into an alleyway. It slumped down onto the pavement...and hissed softly, clutching its side.

A red, sticky substance coated its side, mostly dried, and a thin layer of this same vexing, crimson gunk covered its black paws...

Its long pointed ears twitched, and it closed its bright red eyes.

Its arm went limp...

And a red cane, topped with a golden ornament the shape of a dragon's head, with the body and tail painted to spiral down the stick's shaft, rolled out of his grip onto the street.

Its mind was filled with only one thought: a single word, repeating itself constantly, as fell asleep.

_Cold, cold, cold...cold...cold..._


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: What Now, Brown Cow? (Or White Bird...)**

"Hey! Ugly Chicken! Table Five is waiting!"

Shen sighed softly; the fireworks had yet to be fired, but, even if had been time, his job was only to prepare them. It would be the work of the Jade Palace servants to fire them off. So, as he had some spare time, he had promised Kurisu and her (obnoxious) adoptive brother, the Dragon Warrior Po himself, to help at their adoptive father's restaurant.

It was Kurisu who spoke now. The tiny, blue-furred feline was alight with energy, carrying a stack of bowls twice as tall as herself to the sink as she entered, and balancing them fairly well.

"I'm on it, Itty Bitty Kitty," he said with a small smile, and left the kitchen.

The restaurant was buzzing with life. There were five minutes until the fireworks, and Mr. Ping had promised his customers the best seat in the Valley for them. (A sentiment up to debate.) The goose himself was bustling about, taking orders. As for the panda...well, the fact no one had seen hide nor hair of the blubberball told Shen he was probably somewhere at the back area of the store, playing with his precious toys.

The peacock rolled his eyes at the thought.

Table Five was the seating place of Masters Monkey and Crane, who smiled and nodded, but said nothing, as the peacock placed their orders down and scuttled away quickly to the kitchen once more; years as a demented warlord and recluse had done nothing for his social life, and he always felt..._uneasy_ in crowds...

"So," Kurisu asked cheerfully, fastidiously scrubbing a bowl, "Have you told Nana about that bad dream of yours?"

"Not yet," Shen replied without turning around, trying to concentrate on the bowl of soup he had been practically coerced into making by the goose owner (who was a nice enough fellow, Shen had decided, but pushy when it came to business) to make...if there was one thing he feared more than his own supposedly cured insanity, it was...

Well...actually, it was making anyone even remotely close to him angry, particularly Min Yun, the Soothsayer who had been his nanny as a young lord...but second to that was messing up on Mr. Ping's famous noodle soup. He was no chef, naturally, but spending so much time with the kitten and the panda had taught him a few things...

"You can't keep stalling you know," the kitten said oh-so-innocently.

"I AM going to tell her, Kurisu," he said calmly. "But I simply haven't seen her all day since breakfast at the Palace, and, in case you forget, I never got a chance then..."

Kurisu rolled her eyes with a smirk. It had been almost three months since she, Shen, the Soothsayer, Lanying, and Shen's friend and former henchman, Xun the Wolf Boss, had returned from a trip to Gongmen City. A mad panther who called himself Maddohatta had threatened both the city and the Valley of Peace with an enormous cannon, based on a larger version of the cannons Shen had designed for Gongmen's defense systems.

Kurisu felt her washing slow, and a rare frown clouded her face at the thought of the panther. Not only had he constantly taunted Shen about his past misdeeds, having a strange knowledge of them, but he also had a connection to herself: she had been adopted by Mr. Ping when a group of assassins, commanded by the panther warlord Giao Xun, had destroyed her village and killed her family.

It had been Maddohatta who led the attack.

She blinked rapidly, feeling a feathered hand settle on her shoulder. She looked up and smiled sadly up at the peacock, who eyed her curiously.

"Sorry," she mewed. "I've tried forgetting, but..."

"I know," said Shen. "If my dreams are any indication, I'm having trouble forgetting him myself."

Kurisu just nodded, and returned her attention to the bowl.

"Shen!" squawked Mr. Ping, suddenly popping up. Shen turned to look at him.

He raised an eyebrow at the...odd expression on the goose's face.

"Yes...sir?"

"There's a merchant here...they wanted to show my son something, because he's...well...you know..."

"Yes, Mr. Ping, I know."

"Well...he said you may want to take a look. You, too, Kurisu."

Both looked curiously at the older goose, then looked at each other, before putting down their work and moving out of the kitchen.

A small crowd had gathered around the entrance of the noodle shop. Crane, Monkey, and Po were looking down at...something, their expressions all an equal mix of confusion, shock...and, at least in Po's case, anger.

"What's the matter?" asked Shen.

Then, he looked down, and his already white-feathered face paled as he realized just what was wrong.

A black cat – perhaps a panther – was lying on the ground, half supported by two pigs dressed in merchant's clothes. It was a male, and he was, even viewing him from this point of view, very tall, and very, very thin...almost as if he hadn't eaten in weeks. He wore nothing but a dirty, ragged red jacket, and a pair of black silk pants, held up by a mere rope, that were in even worse condition...at least the jacket bore a few patches, but the pants seemed to be more like holes with cloth between them than cloth with holes in it.

Shen could have sworn his heart skipped a beat. He felt his left eye twitch nervously.

He glanced at Kurisu.

The stunned expression on her face, along with her clenched fists, seemed to say she had the same thoughts he did.

Thin, tall, black...same pants, same coat...

"We found him lying outside our store, in the alley," said the sow. "Poor dear...might have been lying there all day, we just found him by chance..."

Shen almost snorted with laughter at the endearment of "poor dear." Soundlessly, he crouched down beside the unconscious creature. He cautiously moved its arm slightly. He gulped when he saw the blood collected on the panther's body, a deep cut in his side...his whole body, he quickly realized, was bruised, scraped, and scratched, but this cut was particularly nasty.

"It can't be," he whispered to himself.

"Shen...I think it can," Kurisu whispered, and held something up to him.

Master Shen felt the breath catch in his throat.

She held a dragon-head topped cane...a cane too familiar to be a coincidence.

Carefully, Shen reached down towards the cane, and gently clutched the jaw of the dragon's head ornament. The jaw closed, there was a soft click...

Monkey and Crane stared, somewhat surprised, as a long, sharp, sword slid from the cane's shaft.

"How'd you know that was there?" asked Po.

"Because I was expecting it," Shen said simply, and glared down at the body on the ground. "I present to you, my friends...Maddohatta."

"Y'mean...the guy you and little sis met in Gongmen?"

"Yes, panda. 'The guy.'"

Po looked stunned.

"What's he doing here?" he asked.

"No good," hissed Kurisu.

"Not now, Kitty," said Shen, waving a wing at her, eyeing the panther on the ground with a strange, unreadable look.

"What should we do?" asked Monkey.

"Do you know where Master Shifu is?" Shen asked.

Crane and Monkey looked at each other.

"Well...he isn't here right now," Crane said simply.

"With all due respect, Master Crane, that is not what I asked," Shen said, glaring frustratedly.

"He's probably up at the Palace...you know getting the fire-"

A loud moan interrupted them. The panther stirred slightly.

"Stand back," Shen said, reaching inside his robe for a knife, while Kurisu looked ready to pounce.

The panther was gently lowered down by the two merchants, who hastily took a few steps back. He coughed, and his red eyes fluttered open.

There was no mistaking those eyes, Shen thought darkly, as their slit-pupils almost instantly settled on him.

A wheezing, sick laugh erupted from the panther's chest, followed by another hacking cough.

"Well, well, well...we really ARE all mad here, arent' we?"

Without another word, he collapsed again, and lay still.

Shen took up the madman's wrist cautiously.

Still a pulse...

"Tell Grandmaster Shifu we have a patient in desperate need of Lady Biming's services," said Shen.

The general expression and reaction on all faces was something along the lines of _"WHAAAAAT?"_

"Shen, but, he's-!"

"I know what he is, kitten," Shen said in a strange sort of voice. "That's...sort of the reason I'm doing this."

Kurisu gave him a doubtful, and, he detected, none too pleased, look...left up to her, he had no doubt the panther would be buried alive right now.

"Please," he said, turning and nodding to Crane and Monkey, who nodded uncertainly and dashed off.

"Po?" asked Shen, finding himself still unused to using the panda's actual name, "Would you please...?"

"Um...yeah, sure," Po said, picking up the panther by the legs, while Shen grabbed his arms. He groaned audibly.

"Whoa...heavy for a skinny guy," Po said with a short laugh.

_Been there, done that,_ Shen thought.

As he and the panda left the noodle shop, Mr. Ping and the customers watched them go.

The old goose cocked his head slightly, and then looked down at Kurisu, who had an expression on her face like she had just bitten into a lemon.

"Who is that...cat, darling?" he asked, quietly, confused about the whole thing.

Kurisu just sighed.

"He's...no one, dad. No one..."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Black and White**

Lady Biming sighed softly to herself as she dabbed at the forehead of the panther on the bed.

She hadn't known quite what to think when Sheng Li and Po had brought the black cat into the Jade Palace infirmary; as leader of the palace servants, and thus the head healer, only special cases were brought to her attention.

While this WAS, technically, a "special case," it was still unexpected...especially when Master Monkey had decided to see to it he was shackled to the bed.

As she turned around again to wash off the washcloth and prepare another cup of medicinal tea, she let her mind wander to her patient's identity: Maddohatta.

The Mad Hatter, according to Kurisu's translation.

The return from Gongmen had been interesting; while usually Shen and Kurisu – most especially Kurisu – were always eager to talk about their experiences on trips or missions of any kind beyond the Palace, they had both been oddly...quiet. When asked question, both of them would reply evasively, most especially when asked about who they fought. For Master Shen, this wasn't entirely uncharacteristic...but the kitten? The kitten who never seemed to be without at least a DROP of enthusiasm?

Frankly, it was just...bizarre.

Not even Min Yun, the Soothsayer, had been willing to say much...and Lady Biming rarely spoke to Lanying. Indeed, the best descriptions of the panther came from Xun, who seemed to be nowhere near as reluctant to give his thoughts on the whole affair. Among his more colorful descriptions were, "total nutcase," "sicko-psycho," "crazy cat kook," "complete maniac," and the ever popular "whacko."

Regardless of all this, Lady Biming found it difficult to find the currently unconscious panther intimidating: he was very tall, she had to admit, but he was practically emaciated in weight...perhaps from lack of proper nourishment. Along with one major, deep, and rather infected cut on his side, the elderly panda healer had treated him for exactly seven infected scrapes, a few smaller cuts and lacerations, none of them healed properly and at least three still open, and many of them on his exposed paws, as well as a fever and difficulty breathing.

While she doubted these injuries and ailments were present when he and Shen had last met, it still made her wonder, as she turned around how someone _couldn't_ go insane from all that. It also made her worry what state he would be in once he was...

_Awake..._

He was looking right at her.

And it wasn't the groggy, bleary, half-asleep look he had given Sheng Li earlier. The panther's scarlet eyes were only half-lidded, but it was clear he was wide awake as he gazed intently at Lady Biming.

Now, looking into them, the panda couldn't help but feel a chill; she could now see why he was so...upsetting to Shen and the others. Those eyes fairly glowed with an alien, raw, almost feral light, sweeping up and down over her as he eyed her almost scientifically. His dry, fuzzy lips peeled backwards in a sleepy-looking smile...but she could tell, again, that he wasn't tired at all. He looked more...content than weary. Despite his bony frame and the many injuries he still bore, she could now get a feeling that this was not someone to make angry.

Suddenly, she realized what that strange glow in his eyes was: it was the same fiery look Shen had given her, right before he had hit over the head with his halberd, not so very long ago.

She shuddered.

The panther seemed to notice this, his smile now hinting at amusement.

"I believe the best way to start this impending conversation," rasped Maddohatta, his throat dry and voice hoarse from misuse, "is with the infamous question of a certain pipe-loving larva: who are you?"

_Well, he's obviously smart..._

"I'm Lady Biming," she said, keeping her composure and trying to smile...a small, somewhat nervous one was all she could manage.

"Ah. A doctor?"

"Well, a healer," she said.

There was a pause.

"Here," she said after a while, coming over with the cup of tea. "Drink this...it'll do you good."

The panther sniffed at the contents. His eyes lit up, almost like a child at Christmas.

"Tea?" he questioned, in a shrill, happy voice that both disturbed the panda and made her want to laugh at the same time.

"With medicine," she said, nodding. "Open up."

The panther did as he was told...his fangs were long, sharp, and yellowed from lack of cleaning.

Biming flinched slightly, and then tipped the contents down his throat. The panther's jaws shut with an audible _click,_ and he swallowed thickly.

He purred, like a housecat by a lit fireplace.

"Thank you very much," he said. "I haven't had tea in...well, frankly, I lost count of the time. What day of the month is it?"

"The fourth."

The panther laughed loudly...then broke off in a fit of coughing.

"Two...days...wrong...!" he gasped out when he had finished. "I warned _Sangatsu_ that butter wouldn't suit the works..."

The panther sighed dramatically and then giggled.

"So," he began again, changing gears instantly, "I take it Mr. White-Feathers brought me here, huh?"

"If you mean Shen, yes," said Lady Biming, and turned to get some pain numbing medicine.

"Hmmm..." was all the panther said, and then looked at the shackles on his wrists with interest. He tugged at them weakly, almost experimentally. He tried to sit up, only to fall back down at the tug of the cuffs.

"Ah, the infamous handcuffs...simple bands of steel with a chain. You'd think they would have gotten something a bit fancier...bracelets aren't my style. Still, tacky as they are, they are useful, wouldn't you agree?" he asked, smiling casually. "They're uncomfortable, practical, come in at least seventy different shades of gray, and, as you may know, they are excellent security. Virtually impossible to open without a key."

As if to demonstrate this, the panther sat up again. Lady Biming placed a hand on his chest.

"Please, lie down," she said, simply.

"Oh, very well," pouted the panther, sounding like a kid who had just been told he couldn't have the last piece of cake for breakfast. "If I must...I AM very good at lying, you know..."

And he obeyed.

Biming dabbed some of the ointment onto the cut on his side. She avoided the sudden urge to squirm as he watched her, smiling hugely all the while. Despite his childish behavior thus far, she couldn't shake the fact that he was a potential threat...

Not to mention every inch of that grin seemed to make her innermost instincts scream, _Look! Scary predator! Run for your life!_

"Now, where was I...for that matter, where am I?" asked the panther, now looking around with the most confused look he could muster.

Biming almost smiled at how fast his emotions changed.

Almost; she didn't because she realized this was probably an indication of just how truly mad this cat was.

"The Jade Palace infirmary."

"Infirmary?" gasped the panther, as if it was a dirty word. "As in, _doctor's room?"_

He sighed theatrically.

"All right, Mrs. Doctor-lady, don't spare me the grief. Give it to me straight. Am I going to get to walk again? Do I have to go on a diet or something? If I do, I hope you know, I cannot LIVE without tea of some kind...is that why I'm here? I believe I said I haven't had any in a while..."

Maddohatta's ramblings were cut short by three hacking coughs in rapid succession.

"Ouch," he groaned, after finishing.

"You're in rough shape," said Biming simply, putting away the ointment and preparing another cup, in the hopes of stilling the coughing. "I'm treating you for many cuts and scrapes, most of them infected in some way, to say nothing of a fever and your breathing difficulties."

"I know what's WRONG with me, Docsy," growled the panther hoarsely.

There was silence for a moment.

"Say, Mrs. Doctor-lady?"

"Yes?"

"You know that bit about the cuffs I mentioned...the 'virtually impossible to open' part?"

Biming felt a cold shiver go down her spine.

She turned around slowly.

The panther was now standing, the cuffs lying open and limp on the pillow of his bed. He rubbed one of his wrists. His grin was even wider now, revealing his teeth.

"I _told _you I was good at lying," he purred.

Before the panda healer could react, she found her neck surrounded by black paws. Maddened red eyes glared into hers. The smell of the medicines was heavy, along with the scent of blood. Biming gasped for breath, confused and shocked as the grip tightened.

Maddohatta was laughing now, low and dark.

"Now, madam, allow me to thank you for what you've done...I believe I'll take care of the remainder of the...er...treatment myself."

He giggled.

"Of course, I couldn't have even gotten this much of my old strength back without you. So, if you would be so kind as to tell me one last thing, perhaps I'll let you go..."

He pushed his nose up against her own. The smell of the tea on his feline breath was dizzying...or was that the lack of oxygen as his black paws curled tighter...?

_"WHERE. IS. MY. HAT?"_

Suddenly, the panther's paws left her neck. Biming fell to her knees, gasping for breath...

She felt a familiar pair of chubby, black-&-white arms wrap around her and help her to her feet.

"Easy, mom," whispered Po's voice. "I got you..."

Biming looked up, still shocked. She'd had difficult and sometimes violent patients before...but never of _THIS_ level...

Shen, tail feathers fanned out, head feathers standing straight, quivering in rage, a knife in each wing, held Maddohatta to the floor, talons on his arms. The panther grinned up at him with a look somewhere between pure, boiling hatred and absolute relief...

How such a smile could be managed was beyond Lady Biming's understanding, but those were the two prevailing emotions, somehow mixed together.

"Hello, Maddohatta," hissed the peacock, his own red eyes narrowed.

"Ah...Lord Shen," purred Maddohatta. "What an _expected_ surprise. I was just telling this Doctor-lady-panda here what a delightful job she did."

"It's a job she hasn't finished," Shen growled. "You may be insane, but, Heaven knows, you're not stupid."

"But all I want is my hat," whined the panther innocently. "I lost it after that little tumble down the hill."

He giggled...and coughed.

Lady Biming was still frightened by the sudden violence the panther had flown into, but she could tell that the attack on her person had actually weakened the panther more than perhaps even he could tell; his chest was heaving in and out, and, from the limp way he lay on the floor, she was sure he would be swaying were he up on his feet.

She caught a glimpse of those burning, crimson eyes, and shivered; the panther may have been ill and weak, but his eyes betrayed any notion of harmlessness.

"Now you listen to me very carefully, Maddohatta," hissed Shen, leaning in very, very close to the black cat's grinning face. "I brought you here because you needed help. No doctor anywhere else in China would even THINK of helping you, and now that you've attacked her, I doubt Lady Biming will see you as a patient anymore. She's practically holding your lifeline right now. You have two options: deal with her for as long as it takes, or I send you straight back to Gongmen City. We'll let Masters Storming Ox and Croc decide your fate then, and they won't be quite as...gentle."

There was silence. Maddohatta did not seem intimidated by these words...if anything, they only seemed to amuse him.

"The least you could do is show a bit of gratitude."

The panther's face twisted, as if he had bitten into something rotten.

"Ugh...the 'g' word," he spat, and laughed, once again breaking down into a fit of coughing.

Shen sighed, as if in defeat.

"Xun?" he called.

For the first time, Biming noticed the ex-Wolf Boss, peering with his one good eye into the room, looking angry and suspicious.

"Yeah?" he growled.

"Find the Grandmaster. See if he has any of those acupressure cuffs?"

"As in the ones that we used when...?"

"Yes, Xun," Shen hissed irritably. Maddohatta smirked.

"Ah," he purred, as Xun left. "The infamous acupressure shackles...used to hold only China's most heinous of fiends."

He paused looking at Shen intently.

"So where do you keep your personal set?"

"You will be as quiet as possible, or I'll forgo the restraints and ask Master Tigress to keep watch."

"Mmm...the inimitable Tigress. I hear she's wanted to dismember you for some time now..."

He chuckled darkly.

"Sounds like my kind of girl."

The panther fell quiet when one of Shen's knives placed itself against his throat.

"I may yet regret saving you," he hissed. "Dead or alive...Croc and Ox will be happy either way."

"Ahem...the cuffs, Shen..."

"Thank you, Xun," said the peacock, without turning around. "Help me put them on."

In no time at all, the madman was once again restrained. He didn't move at all.

"I'll be right outside, Lady Biming," said Shen.

"Me, too," whispered Po.

"Thank you," said the healer, truly grateful.

The two nodded – the larger one smiling – and left the room.

Lady Biming shut the door.

She turned back to the panther, who lay back, looking half asleep.

"So," he purred, "shall we try this again...?"


	4. Chapter 4

Notes: Here's your wish, Shen's Follower. (Whoever you are...) Lanying and Shen interaction here. Expect the return of the Soothsayer in Chapter 5! Thanks for the reviews!

**Chapter 4: Curiouser and Curiouser...**

Sheng Li kept his sleeves folded together as he stood outside the door of Lady Biming's infirmary room. He frowned slightly as he noted Po, also standing outside the door beside him...about to nod off to sleep out of boredom.

The panda's eyes would flutter closed, he'd snore once...and then he would awake, shaking his head fast and mumbling incoherently.

Every. Five. Seconds.

Frankly, it was getting on the peacock's nerves.

"You know," he said after a while, "you could go do something else...I'm sure the kitchen misses you..."

"No way," said the panda, having just awakened again. "She's my mom, and I don't wanna take the chance; that guy might hurt her."

Shen snorted.

"Oh, he'll do _plenty_ more than that..."

Shen pursed his beak quickly...that probably wasn't the smartest thing to say.

Thankfully, Po seemed not to notice, having briefly nodded off again.

Master Shen just rolled his eyes.

The door opened with a soft creak, and both the panda and the peacock backed away slightly, eyeing Lady Biming expectantly as she came out. Her face was utterly unreadable.

"Well?" asked Shen. "How is he?"

"Well...I can't account for his mind," said Biming with a soft sigh, "but his body should be mostly healed within a few weeks...his wounds looked worse than they really were. He may carry a scar in his side, and that coughing will stick around for some time after his injuries are through closing up, but he'll endure."

"Whether that's good or bad has yet to be determined," muttered Shen.

Biming nodded slightly.

"Won't he try to escape?" asked Po.

"Not a chance, my Jade," smiled Lady Biming. "I slipped him a sedative after you two walked out...he'll be sleeping like a frog on a log for at least another few hours."

"Good," said Shen, staring at the door as if he could see through it. "I'll come back later to check on him personally."

"I'll be in and out myself," said Biming. "Those shackles...they _will_ keep him down, won't they?"

"They're THE best cuffs!" said Po emphatically, mirroring his own words upon being captured by Shen's forces a while back. "The more you move, the tighter they hold you. Not even Tai Lung could get out of them without some sort of lock pick!"

"Unless you left anything sharp near him..."

"I'm not that silly, Sheng Li," said Biming.

There was a moment of silence.

"Well..." said Po, and cleared his throat, "I'd...better see how my little sis is doing...you want to come, mom?"

"Sure," was the simple reply, spoken once more with that mothering smile Shen knew so well as the two walked off. Shen watched them go, sighed softly and went off on his own way."

He soon came to his destination: a door with a sign on it that read, painted elegantly with an ink-dipped calligraphy brush, "Please knock – softly – before entering."

Shen chuckled to himself and did so.

He heard a soft fluttering sound, and the door opened.

"Oh!" came a surprised voice. "Shen!"

It was Lanying. She smiled up at her husband.

"Hello," said Shen with a small smile of his own. "May I come in?"

Lanying sighed.

"Sure, come on in," she said. "I can't think of anything right now, anyway..."

Shen entered the "studio" of his bride. The room was filled with paintings, some of them easily distinguished as students and servants of the Jade Palace, a single painting of Grandmaster Shifu himself, and an immensely wide landscape painting of the view from the Valley of Peace of the Palace itself. Shen grinned, noting there were at least three paintings of himself...perhaps more, hidden under the vast multitudes that covered the walls.

Lanying stood before the scroll on her easel, her brush and paints laid aside, staring thoughtfully at the parchment, as if she meant to search it for the subject she wished to create next.

"Dead spell?" asked Shen simply, "hands" behind his back as he gazed at her curiously.

"So to speak," sighed Lanying. "I've painted Nana, you, the Five, the Dragon Warrior...even the Grandmaster! To say nothing of all the servants...and I MEAN all of them. I can't seem to decide on what to paint next...and, while I've done all repeat subjects before, I don't feel like doing that now."

"I see."

Lanying just shrugged and turned to him with a small, nervous looking smile.

"So, how's the nutcase?"

Shen's smile faded. Now it was his turn to sigh.

"Lady Biming says he'll make a full recovery in a few weeks...I'm not so sure whether to be relieved or regretful for that news."

Lanying just nodded.

"Why did you bring him here, anyway?"

Shen kept silent for such a long time she had begun to think he wouldn't answer...

Until he exhaled loudly and _did_.

"It's because of something the panda did..."

"Po?" Lanying said, genuinely surprised. "What's that?"

"When we were...you know, and he managed to defeat me, he came up to me after he sank my ships and destroyed my cannons. He could have killed me then...he could have killed me at any time for what I did to him. He didn't. He actually tried to offer me a chance to redeem myself."

He chuckled.

"I refused, of course...my real reformation came later, as you know."

"I don't think this panther WANTS redemption, Shen."

"I don't know if I want to try," said the peacock with a shake of his head. "All I know is that I couldn't let him die...it reminded me to much of myself and the panda at that moment."

He paused, and began to pace around.

"He's like me, Lanying...and he isn't. We both have interest in fireworks, and, in terms of the way he works and how I used to work, our methods are similar. Nana and the others tell me I'm 'okay' now, but I've never fully agreed...I've always got the nagging feeling I'm still at least somewhat screwloose. He's just an extension of that. Where our real differences lie are these three things: first of all, and most importantly, everything I've ever done – good or bad – was done for a purpose. This madman just kills and steals, and he does so relentlessly, with no given motive behind it other than the sole purpose of DOING it. He had some 'tragedy' in his past, yes, but, unlike me, that isn't what drives him...for him, it's more of a childish excuse than a real reason for what he does. I don't think he ever even believed in the cause he was fighting for...he just wanted the pleasure that working for that cause would give him."

He paused.

"That's two things," said Lanying. "What's the third?"

"That I don't know him. Not really. He knows more about me than I find comfortable, but I know only the smallest bit about him."

He turned to her, looking into her eyes almost sadly.

"Maybe that's why I see so much of myself in him...I have no other basis to work with."

Lanying nodded in understanding. Both of the peafowl were silent for a moment.

"You know," began the Java peahen after a moment, "there is a fourth difference between you two..."

"What?" asked Shen, raising an eyebrow.

Lanying smirked.

"You're a peacock. He's a panther."

Shen smirked and rolled his eyes.

"In any case," he said. "I don't know what to do yet...when he heals. I suppose I'll have to send him to Gongmen as a prisoner..."

Lanying shrugged.

Shen stared at the ground thoughtfully...

Then his eyes lit up.

"Perhaps there's something in my dreams," he murmered.

Lanying looked at him doubtfully.

"Maybe," she said. "If not, I still think you should talk to Nana about them."

Shen nodded.

"And that's exactly what I'll do. I'll see you later, my dear."

And without another word, he left the room.

Lanying smiled after him, and then turned around back to her scroll.

After a moment, she smiled.

She took up a brush and some red paint...


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: Stranger Things Have Happened...**

Sheng Li found the Soothsayer in her room, working on sewing a hemp robe covered completely in bite marks. Shen knocked as he quietly opened the door.

"Nana?"

The old goat looked up. She blinked, and returned to her work.

"Shen. So, how is Maddohatta?"

Shen stared for a moment.

_I'm not even going to ask._

He did though.

"Did you get that from your bowl, or did someone tell you?"

"A bit of both, actually...I saw him in my bowl last night, and I heard the panda mention something about him trying to hurt Biming this morning."

Shen sighed.

"I thought he would be too weak to bother with harming anyone...a mistake I shall not make again," he said simply.

"I'm not angry, if that's what you think," said Min Yun, putting down the robe and her needles. "You wanted to talk to me about your dreams, yes?"

"You knew about them already?"

There was a pause, the Soothsayer looking at him amusedly over her spectacles. Shen sighed again and shook his head.

"Never mind," he said. "Anyway, I've been having the same one for several nights straight...I was hoping you might be able to tell me what it might mean, if it even means anything at all. Especially now that...HE'S here."

"Is he in this dream?"

"Yes. It seems too much of a coincidence to me he'd show up while my dreams were going on."

The Soothsayer tugged at her beard thoughtfully.

"Hmm," she murmered, and stood up, taking up her walking stick. "Perhaps the fates will enlighten us..."

She took up her bowl as she had so often before.

Then she held out a hoofed hand. Shen looked at her confused.

She rolled her eyes.

"I need a feather, my chick," she said flatly.

Shen nodded, and plucked a feather out from his left wing – blinking back the brief, stinging pain as he did so – and handed it to his Nana. She took it and threw it into her bowl, along with some ashes. She lit the ashes...

The bowl began to glow, the ethereal smoke rising from it as it always did. Shen watched rapturously as the smoke rose, guided by the waving hands of the Soothsayer...

Slowly, the smoke gathered into a plume at the top...

Both Shen and his Nana stared at the shape the smoke turned into.

It was the all-too-familiar image of a yin-yang...an image that had haunted Sheng Li for many years. It was the sign of his downfall, in more ways than one.

But there was something...off about this yin-yang. At first, Shen couldn't tell what it was...

Then he realized exactly what it was, as the image shifted slowly from a yin-yang to the head of a smiling, black cat.

The cat's head roared angrily, the blast causing Shen to step back in surprise...

And then the image vanished, and the smoke cleared.

The Soothsayer and the peacock stared in confusion at the now-empty bowl.

"What in heaven's name was all that?" Shen whispered.

"I'm...not entirely sure," said Min Yun, biting her lip and pulling at her beard once more. "I sensed a connection...something about your panther friend and you. It was like the connection you and the Dragon Warrior had all those years ago..."

"Hence the yin-yang," Shen said with a nod. "But what kind of connection? I caused him to eventually become the Dragon Warrior, and thus I unwittingly caused my own inevitable defeat – which I no longer feel angry about – but what does this madman have to do with me?"

"The shaping of the sign into the cat's head was a clue, Shen," said the Soothsayer. "He helped to make you what you are...and I know without even using any magic that you feel he reflects much of you...or, at least, what you used to be."

"I don't deny that," said Shen (the main reason being, although he never spoke it aloud, that denying anything to Nana often led to some sort of disaster). "But that's nowhere near as strong a connection as the one Po and I had...or have..."

There was a pause.

"...Is it?"

"Somehow, you are tied to each other," said Nana. "The vision was vague, but I saw one thing very clearly, something images alone could not give us: once upon a time, a warrior of black and white defeated a peacock. Soon, a white peacock and a black cat will defeat another evil."

Shen stared.

"Are you saying," he said, not daring to speak above a whisper, barely believing what he was hearing. "That that...that LUNATIC and I are destined to work together?"

Min Yun sighed.

"Temporarily at least," she affirmed. "The future still holds surprises...my visions don't tell all, you know. This one in particular is very faint."

Shen blinked and turned away slightly. His eyes were wide and held a storm of conflicting emotions.

"You don't believe me, do you?" said the Soothsayer, sighing.

Shen glanced at her then turned away again.

"That's just the trouble, Nana," he said. "Experience has gotten it through my bird-brain, as Xun is so fond of calling me, that what you predict generally comes true, whether I desire it or not, and whether I believe it or not. So I really don't have much choice to believe it. But...with this one...I don't WANT to believe."

The Soothsayer smiled and hobbled up, placing a comforting hoof against her chick's shoulder.

"While I would never usually admit it, I've read my predictions wrong before...though that was long before you were born, my dear," she said softly. "There's always the slim chance that I'm wrong this time."

Shen smirked.

"If that is your attempt to put my mind at ease, it hasn't done its work. If anything, now I'm more anxious than usual."

There was silence.

"Well...if this is to be, so be it. Doubtless I'll be unable to stop it. But the day this madman and I become...friends, I'll be a monkey's uncle."

Min Yun chuckled.

"Well, considering you're practically one to a kitten already..."

"Nana!"

The Soothsayer just laughed.

Then, without warning, the door to the room swung open.

Standing there was Kurisu.

"Hey, Ugly Chicken!" she said. "Come on!"

"What's the matter?" asked Shen, half-expecting the kitten to tell him Maddohatta had broken loose.

"It's dad's noodle shop!" she said, pale with fear. "Someone's set it on fire! And he's still there!"


	6. Chapter 6

Notes: I had hoped not to do a note like this again...to the guest reviewer known only as "Shen's Follower," on your thoughts on the inevitable "team-up": YES, sir/madam, it WILL happen. However, as to the question of whether this "partnership" will last...well, honestly, that has yet to be decided. To that end, I turn to you, Shen's Follower, and whoever else reads this story: in a review/PM inform whether you think Maddohatta should reform or turn traitor; my initial thoughts were the latter, but, after asking eight people (only one of whom is a signed member of the site), I have discovered that exactly 50% of these people asked thought he should reform, while the other half thought otherwise. Note that this is a VERY small group, and I am STILL undecided.

Also, I find that I'm using more and more _Alice_ references in this story than the previous one. If this is growing tiresome for anyone, know that there were meant to be many more in the first book, so I'm essentially "getting them out of my system" in this one.

Well, now that that business is dealt with...

**Chapter 6: New Tricks?**

Shen, Kurisu, Po, and Xun were sent out to take charge at the scene of the burning noodle shop. From the top of the thousand steps, they could see the flames far below.

As they dashed down the thousand steps, Shen made a mental note that the panda took ten minutes to finish one lap, up and down, the thousand steps when Shifu ordered him to...it took less than two minutes to get to the bottom when the noodle shop was in danger, along with its owner.

The instant they got to Mr. Ping's shop, Po ran for the kitchen.

"Dad!" he called out.

While the panda searched for his adoptive father, Kurisu, Xun, and Shen ran for a nearby well to quench the flames.

In the end, Mr. Ping was found not in the kitchen, but in the main house, under an overturned table, stunned but not unconscious. The panda quickly got his father out of the house, while the other three set to work dousing the flames. Xun and Shen had each brought buckets with them. While Xun threw two buckets of water at a time, with the kitten helping with one of her own (and occasionally tripping as she did so), Shen would glide over the larger areas of the flames, dumping a bucket as he did so.

Although the flames were put out fairly quickly, the noodle shop would be under repairs for awhile. The Furious Five themselves arrived to help start said repairs, along with a group of Jade Palace servants who were skilled carpenters.

"What happened, dad?" asked Kurisu.

"W-w-well, I'm not sure!" said Mr. Ping, still frazzled. "It all happened so fast! I was just getting ready to close up, when, all of a sudden, three gentlemen came in..."

"Did they start the fire?"

The goose nodded sadly.

"I thought they were just customers...but those black cats began to smash up the tables and then chased me inside. They hit me with a table and used oil to light everything up!"

Shen, who had been overseeing the replacement of a destroyed table with a new one, perked up at the words "black cats."

"What kind of cats?" he asked, coming over quickly.

"Umm...big ones?" said Mr. Ping, more as a question than a statement.

Well, that made it definite: the panda and the kitten were definitely their father's children.

"Panthers?" asked Po.

"I think so, son."

The panda's and the peacock's eyes met.

"Do you think...?"

"I think it's worth asking."

"Did you catch any names?" asked Viper, who had also overheard, and was curious.

"What did they look like?" added Mantis, who stood atop her head.

"Uhh..." said Mr. Ping eloquently, pressing two feathery fingers to his temples as he tried to remember. "All three wore red vests and black pants...two of them wore masks...and the one that didn't was called...Sangatsu, or something like that?"

Shen stared, remembering something he had heard behind a closed door...

_I told Sangatsu that butter wouldn't suit the works..._

"You all remain here...I'm going back to the palace. It's high time our hat-loving friend and I had a talk..."

Back at the Palace infirmary, a black panther's jaws repeatedly snapped open and shut.

An acupuncture needle was on a small table near the bed to which he was shackled...generally useless for picking locks.

Unless one knew how.

He obviously couldn't get it with his hands, and he found, much to his dismay, that his legs had been tied down while he had been unconscious, and, though he wriggled and writhed, he was having difficulty loosening the chord.

So that left his teeth.

He immediately stopped and lay still on his back when he heard the door unlock.

He grinned widely at the figure that entered.

"Am I dead yet?" he asked calmly.

"No," was the curt reply as Sheng Li entered the room.

"Hmph. You know, you're not looking half-bad...been working out?"

Shen remained silent.

"You're face has quite a grisly pallor...you might want a bit more sunlight."

Here the panther giggled.

"Then again, who am I to criticize?"

"Mr. Ping's noodle shop was attacked. We have reason to believe the ones responsible work for Giao Xun."

Maddohatta snorted.

"What is this?" he sneered. "A Charlie Chan Film Festival?"

"Do you know a person called Sangatsu?"

The panther's red eyes flickered with an emotion that Shen had never seen before...but the light was gone before he could figure out just what it was.

"In a word, yes."

"What can you tell me about him?"

"That he has horrible taste," said Maddohatta dryly. "When I went to work, I worked with class. He's much too serious for his own good, and nowhere near as efficient as I am in the art of destruction. Never any time for tea..."

Shen sensed something more than the usual contempt Maddohatta used in his words.

"Is he the one who did...this to you?" he asked, genuinely curious, gesturing at Maddohatta's many wounds.

"Yes and no. Most of this I got from that little trip I took...thought I'd see you next Fall, but the fates had other plans. The side-splitter he gave me is the only humorous thing I ever got out of him."

"I take it you to don't get along well."

"He wants money and power. I don't. I just want to have fun...we've been over this before."

"Yes, well, your definition of fun is starkly different from my own."

"Can we count on that?" purred the panther, smirking.

There was silence.

"But, back to the matter at hand...do you really think I would come here, battered, bruised, broken, and bleeding, and stir up so much trouble? WITHOUT making sure you knew it was ME?"

Shen squirmed; as much as he hated to admit it, he HAD thought that. They all did. But, now that he thought about it, it didn't make much sense after all...Maddohatta was theatrical and deceptive, but it would be those same qualities that would make him do just that. He always made sure what he did was certain and without doubt his work when he and Master Shen had last crossed paths...it didn't make sense for him to let someone else take the fall for him.

"Why would this...Sangatsu go after the noodle shop?"

"Well...he might have known I was here, and wanted to pin it on me. As to what his plan might be, I wouldn't exactly know...my recent failure to launch a rocket lead to my instant falling out with the good General Giao. No regrets, though...he's a terrible singer, for one thing..."

"I hope you realize that once you're healed I'm sending you to Gongmen prison myself."

The panther's eyes and smile both grew cold and menacing.

"Not if I kill you first."

Shen's scarlet eyes narrowed into the thinnest of slits.

"You kidnapped my Nana. You carved a message into the skin of my beloved. You murdered the family of another person dear to my admittedly shriveled heart. And you killed and hurt countless other people...a few of which I was witness to the crime. When I went after you, I was out for blood. The first one to die will be you."

Maddohatta's eyes briefly widened at this speech...

And then he laughed hysterically.

He calmed down – just a little – when he noticed the truly stunned and confused gaze the peacock was giving him.

"You don't get it, do you?" he asked, still giggling.

"If you mean what you are laughing at, then no."

The panther's eyes narrowed again. His voice grew dark and the raspy quality of his sickness became more pronounced...it sounded almost like a demon straight from an Inferno fortelling the end of the world when he spoke.

_"'Will you walk a little faster?' said a whiting to a snail. 'There's a porpoise close behind us, and he's treading on my tail! See how eagerly the lobsters and the turtles all advance! They are waiting on the shingle. Will you come and join the dance? Will you, won't you, will you, won't you, will you join the dance? Will you, won't you, will you, won't you, won't you join the dance?'"_

Having finished his short chant, the madman fell silent. Shen stared at him, one eyebrow raised, even more perplexed than before.

The panther giggled.

"A bit of a poem from my...er...source material, Sheng Li," he hissed. "Think about it for a while. The meaning will come to you."

Shen just glared at him.

"I'll be back to check on you myself," he said shortly.

Then, without warning, his tail fanned out, knocking the needle across the room.

He smirked as he left the infirmary, while Maddohatta cursed behind him.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: March Madness**

The Panthers of Giao Xun all agreed on one thing: Sangatsu was nothing like Maddohatta.

While only a few of them had ever actually served the deranged, hat-wearing cat, all of them had met him at least once.

A few even bore scars.

The reasons for Maddohatta's apparent loyalty to their master was truly unknown to them: while their leader had his...problems, he was nowhere near as demented as his former chief assassin. Before their unfortunate demise, Hakkyo and Shita – Hatta's right (and left) hand cats – had developed an analogy that most of the panthers still used: Giao Xun was a single, well-aimed cannonball; a practically unstoppable force with a direct goal in mind...large, muscular, and powerful in appearance. Maddohatta more closely resembled his own personal creation, the Dragon's Neck: smaller, faster, and more scattershot, with only the vaguest of plans in his head, ready to kill, maim, or steal at the drop of a hat...literally. While Giao Xun sought to build himself up, Maddohatta seemed to exist for the sole purpose of breaking things down.

Not to mention that the cat in the hat had nasty diet habits...

It was widely believed the two completed each other: Maddohatta worked for Giao Xun because he enjoyed the thrill of the attacks, took pleasure in others pain, and he realized working for General Giao would be a wonderful experience, if nothing else. As for Giao Xun, he knew that the madman, force of bedlam he was, would likely not only rid himself of any threats he wanted eliminated, but very likely get rid of any witnesses as well. It was not a matter of trust, or even true camaraderie, but more a matter of understanding the logic in madness.

Even so, the new chief of the panthers, Sangatsu, felt like a breath of fresh air: he was stern and cold, virtually incapable of smiling, one paw almost permanently placed over the hilt of the katana at his side. He dressed like any other soldier of Giao Xun, save for the lack of a mask. The dramatic Maddohatta, wild as he was, always kept his whiskers combed. Sangatsu seemed more relaxed...he did not look particularly extraordinary, nor prim and proper, but he was not a wreck at all.

He was very tall, and, while Maddohatta had been strangely scrawny, he bore thick, wide shoulders and heavy muscles in his arms and legs. His eyes were the same red color of any panther in Giao Xun's employ, and he spoke with a deep, dark baritone.

Sangatsu and six panthers now stood imposingly over a small sheep, the owner of a library in the Valley of Peace. The library held no books – they had yet to reach China – but had been a storage place for many ancient scrolls of poetry and history for many years, ever since Oogway had first crafted the art of Kung Fu, and then set up the building in the Valley as a place of knowledge. He shivered in fear, eyeing the knives in two of the panthers' hands, and also noting the fact that they had broken down the door.

"Where do you keep your most valuable relics?" asked Sangatsu, in a casual voice.

"Th-they're in the back. W-w-we keep them locked up in a b-back room."

"Open it. I wish to check out one."

The sheep stared in shock.

"B-but I can't! I...I am forbidden from...!"

A sword was at his neck.

"You. Will. Open. It. Up."

The sheep gulped, eyes on the point of the blade, and edged to the back of the library. He took a set of keys out from the robes he wore, and opened the room up.

"Th-th-there, it's-"

The sheep never got another word out, as a katana slashed his throat open, and then, slid back quickly into its sheath.

"Thank you," mumbled Sangatsu, and turned back to his men. "You know what to do. Find the scroll."

The six panther soldiers ran into the back room. It was filled with shelves, lined with old scrolls, many coated in dust.

The panthers may have been murderers and bandits, but they also knew the value of the room they stood in; they were all very careful as they scoured the shelves. Sangatsu and his men would check a scroll very carefully, and, if it was not what they were looking for, return it cautiously to its shelf. They wanted to leave as little traces of their visit as possible.

But they had failed to reckon with the small space of the Valley, and how fast word would travel; they had laid low for three days since the attack on the noodle shop, but the instant they got to the library, a merchant from across the street had sent out an alarm that a robbery was taking place.

Shen and Xun had heard the alarm, and ran to the spot.

As Sangatsu and his six searched the shelves, the two stepped over the deceased sheep, and entered calmly. The leader had apparently found what he wanted, calling his men over with a wave of his hand to look at a scroll he had just picked up.

"Ahem!" coughed Shen.

The seven panthers instantly drew their weapons, Sangatsu rolling up the scroll and tucking it into the red sash around his waist.

"Shh!" whispered Xun, smirking. "No talking in the library!"

"You must be Sangatsu," Shen said, crouched, train fanned out.

"Master Sheng Li," said Sangatsu, nodding in recognition. His voice showed no sign of intimidation, or even anger. It was as cool as if they were discussing the weather. "Formerly Lord Shen of Gongmen City. I understand you defeated my rival."

"If you mean Maddohatta, yes."

"What are you doing here?" growled Xun, fists held up threateningly.

"Checking out a bit of reading material," said Sangatsu. "What else? And, as you can see, you are outnumbered. To try and stop would be foolish."

Shen and Xun smiled at each other.

"He doesn't know us very well, does he?" chuckled the wolf.

"Apparently not."

"Attack!" snapped Sangatsu, snapping his fingers.

Rather than face the six panthers head on, Shen and Xun darted out of the room. The panthers, intent on the kill, followed.

Once out in the main library, however, the fight began.

Shen spun around, dropping as he did, his sweeping train catching three panthers off guard and knocking them to the ground. Their daggers slid away from their grip.

Xun ducked a slash from one panther, and dodged a swipe from another's blade, then grabbed both cats by the back of their heads, and slammed their skulls together, knocking them senseless.

"That'll smart in the morning," he chuckled to himself.

The three now-unarmed panthers, meanwhile, immediately got back onto their feet. Shen flung four feather-shaped knives at the black cats, pinning two of them to the opposite wall. An inkwell on a shelf above them hit one in the head as it fell.

The other panther launched a kick at Shen, who easily dodged it and wrapped his talons around the cat's leg. With a twist, the panther was on the floor. The peacock put a claw over its face, lifted its head up, and slammed it back down.

Now there was only one panther left out of six. The black cat eyed the two warily, holding up two knives, tail twitching agitatedly.

Xun smirked, and cracked his knuckles, while Shen remained ready in a crouched position.

The panther lunged for the Wolf Boss, who dodged and chopped at the panther's arm, knocking one of the knives away. The panther reeled and then retaliated with the other knife. Shen kicked him, and then knocked the second blade away with a swipe of one of his own knives. The panther launched a punch at the peacock's face, but found his arm twisted behind his back by Xun, who then threw him across the room.

The panther hit the floor at the feet of Sangatsu, who stood, stunned, in the open doorway of the back room.

"Well, that takes care of your most unwelcome aides," said Shen with a grin.

"Mind telling us what's up with the scroll?" snarled Xun.

Sangatsu's eyes narrowed.

"There are worse things to fear than you two," he growled.

Then, without warning, the cat _jumped up onto the ceiling,_ and, using his claws, scampered across on his belly, out the door, and onto the roof. Shen and Xun, briefly surprised by the unique maneuver, ran outside.

Shen flew up to the roof, but Sangatsu was nowhere to be seen.

Xun climbed up after him.

"So, what now?"

"Clearly this new commander of Giao Xun's isn't the type to fight his way out," said Shen.

"What did he want that scroll for, anyway?"

"Nothing that can be good for us, I'm sure," sighed Shen. "I hate it when Nana is right..."

"Right about what?" asked Xun, confused.

"I think we'll have to fight fire with fire."

Xun looked confused for just a moment, but then his eyes widened.

"You're joking, right? Please, say you're joking."

"I wish I was."

"Do you remember ANYTHING about that guy? He's flat-out _NUTS!"_

"So was I, once upon a time."

Xun sighed loudly.

"You realize it's pointless, don't you?"

"It won't be permanent...and I don't like it anymore than you. But if we're going to figure out what's going on, we'll need someone who knows about Giao Xun's plans."

Xun rolled his eyes.

"Shen, I knew you were a bird-brain before, but are you LISTENING to yourself?"

"Regrettably, yes. And Grandmaster Shifu's probably going to kill me..."


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8: Crazy...Like a Fox!**

"Forgive me if I seem blunt, Master Shen, but...are you INSANE?"

"Grandmaster, if I were still mad, I wouldn't be here, would I?"

"Letting that panther loose is like asking a fox to keep a chicken coop safe!" snapped Shifu, pointing with his staff in the direction down the hall to which the infirmary lay. "I don't even need your story to see that! You should know we can't afford to have another threat running wild!"

"I understand your concern, Grandmaster, but I really don't see much of anything else...this cat knows things we don't, things that could tip the scales in our favor. Giao Xun's up to something, and he might know what that is. Even if he doesn't, he hates this...Sangatsu person as much as anyone else. He may be mad, but he'll focus on that, if nothing else."

"And afterwards?"

"Prison, of course. I'll take full responsibility...wherever I go, he goes. And vice-versa. If anyone gets hurt because of him, it will be my fault. And, once Sangatsu and Giao Xun are stopped, we'll send him to Gongmen."

Shifu blinked.

"Master Shen, do you realize what you're getting yourself into?"

"I do...and, to be honest, I'm starting to wonder if I AM going crazy again."

Shifu looked the peacock up and down and then sighed.

"I'll need to discuss it with the Masters Council...they will be here in three days, and by then, Lady Biming says our...patient should be able to walk without aid of any kind. It'll take a while still till he's fully healed, but at least travel won't be a problem."

Shen nodded.

"Thank you, Grandmaster," said Shen, and bowed before leaving.

Maddohatta lay quietly in the infirmary. Every day he was feeling stronger...the cough still persisted, but the panda-healer had told him the fever no longer seemed present. His injuries still needed some time, and there was still a fuzzy, weak sort of feeling in his head, but he was finally able of more formed thoughts than previously.

But he was very hungry...they had only fed him some broth, and that was nowhere near enough for him. He'd been starving since he had been expelled from Giao Xun's side, and while the temptation to complain was great, he knew better...not because of manners, but because he knew it would likely be useless anyway.

His ears twitched as the doors opened.

He grinned.

"Sheng Li," he purred smoothly. "Good to see you again. And I'm feeling much better, thank you."

The peacock said nothing.

"Have you figured out my little poem yet?"

"How would you like to kill Sangatsu?"

Maddohatta cocked his head slightly.

"Well, that's an interesting question," he hissed. "Why the sudden interest in my personal life, sir?"

"You took such an interest in mine, for starters. Your friend stole a scroll from the stores of the ancient library in the Valley today."

"So what?"

"I have arranged with Shifu to give you a sort of...probation. After you have healed, you will help us stop this new threat, and possibly Giao Xun, with him. Once that is put to an end, you will be sent back to Gongmen for judgment."

Maddohatta sat up slightly.

"You and me? Work together?" he laughed. "I'm an assassin, sir, not a kung fu master! Why should I help you?"

"Adding an unexpected element – myself and whoever else is involved for you, and yourself for us – may tip things in our favor. You want this cat dead, we want him stopped, dead or alive. You know things about Giao Xun we do not, and we know things about this place that you don't...knowing the terrain is just as important as knowing the enemy. Plus, doing this will likely lessen your sentence."

Maddohatta smirked.

"Is this official, then?" he purred.

"Well...no. The Grandmaster won't have a definite answer for another three days."

The panther snorted with laughter and lay back, closing his eyes.

"Convince him and his little council, and I'll be quite impressed, Sheng Li."

The peacock frowned.

"Why do you do that?"

The cat opened one eye.

"What?" he hissed, innocently.

"Call me by my full name."

The cat shrugged.

"The names of Shen and Master Shen mean nothing to me...not even Lord Shen makes me think of you. I've known you by your full name since...forever, really. Force of habit, I suppose."

There was a pause.

"This isn't a pardon, so that you know," the peacock thought to say. "You are not forgiven for anything, and don't think I'll trust you even once during any of this. The only reason I'm even doing this is because..."

Shen stopped himself...Maddohatta was insane, but he didn't seem to be the kind that would believe in fate.

The panther raised an eyebrow.

"Because it has been 'soothsaid'?"

Shen did not respond. The panther chuckled to himself.

"Very well...don't tell me. I really don't care. One quick question, however..."

"Yes?"

"After this little deal has been settled, may I have my hat back?"

Shen rolled his eyes.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9: Madness In Their Midst**

Shen waited outside the room where the masters council discussed his plan...he was nervous, to say the least.

First of all, if they rejected the idea of Maddohatta assisting them, he would have to turn over the maniac to them, and, with him now in much better condition – he was still locked in the infirmary, shackled, but was no longer bedridden – Shen was sure he would escape. While he didn't trust the panther any farther than he could throw Po – which was not far at all – he also felt oddly more secure with the notion that he would be helping them.

Even if only temporarily, and even if the alliance was an unsettling one.

Second of all, if they accepted the idea...what then? There was no telling the plan would work, and the panther was far madder than he, himself, had ever been.

Well...actually, that was up to debate.

The room behind the door had been oddly quiet for about an hour or two now...he didn't know if it was because the heavy portal dimmed out all sound, or because the masters were so composed, even with a matter like this, when they discussed matters such as that.

There was also always the thought that Grandmaster Shifu had not yet even broached the subject...Shen honestly wasn't sure how long Masters Council meetings took on average.

Finally, the door opened. Shen immediately rushed up closer when Shifu came out.

He looked...uneasy.

Good sign? Bad sign? Who knew?

"Have you discussed our...guest with them, Master Shifu?"

The small red panda sighed.

"I have, Shen. We're taking a risk. They've decided...and I can't believe the words coming out of my mouth...to go ahead with your plan to use Maddohatta to help us catch Sangatsu and/or Giao Xun. With a few exceptions, it seems the majority of us believe that one assassin is, however crazed and however deadly, still only a singular threat; Giao Xun and his army seem considerably more destructive in that light."

Master Shen was silent for a moment.

"Thank you, Master," he said at last, monotonously, and bowed before taking his leave.

He was halfway to the infirmary, head bowed and wings folded in thought, when something familiar, blue, and fuzzy popped up in front of him, seemingly out of nowhere.

"Hey, Shen!" it greeted excitedly.

Shen backed up in surprise, then sighed and continued on.

"Hello, Itty Bitty Kitty."

"So, how'd it go? Is he going to jail now?" asked Kurisu, clearly hoping the answer would be yes.

"No, I'm afraid not, kitten. It seems our old feline foe is staying a bit longer."

Kurisu, who had been jumping around like a wild thing in hopes of news of her family's murderer finally being sent away, instantly calmed down. Her expression was one of abject shock.

"But...but...why does he...?"

Shen sighed.

"Despite suggesting it in the first place, I'm probably equally disappointed with this turn of events. Compared to Giao Xun, the Masters Council simply doesn't seem to see Maddohatta as much of a threat."

"That's because they've never encountered him," said the kitten, darkly.

Shen nodded gravely.

"With an army behind him, this cat could be as dangerous as any other enemy any person here has faced before...alone, he's menacing enough. Still, we have to subject to their decision. We need him if we're going to get any idea of what General Giao is plotting next. That doesn't mean we have to like it, of course..."

Kurisu said nothing for about ten seconds.

"I hate him," she said bitterly, and ran off without another word.

Shen stopped and watched her go. He sighed once again, deeper than ever before, it seemed.

"Well, she's not happy, is she?" came a familiar, gruff voice.

Shen looked lucidly back at Xun, who was leaning against the wall in a casual, curious pose.

"Would you be, puppy dog, if the same person who slaughtered your entire family was under the same roof as you and the people you cared most about?"

Xun shrugged.

"I guess I would...still, you and the panda seemed to put that behind you fairly fast."

"This is different. I had already repented by the time Po forgave me completely. And I wanted to forget those days...I still do. Maddohatta doesn't want to forget, and he is far from redeemed...I think he's GLAD he has memories like those, and that someone here is being hurt by them."

Xun seemed to think about this, and then nodded slowly.

"I guess I see your point. Oh, by the way, Shen?"

"Yes?"

The peacock grunted as he found himself on the floor.

"Don't call me 'puppy dog!'"

Within three seconds the two were wrestling on the floor.

By the time the Soothsayer came and broke them up, it was Shen, oddly enough, who had come out on top, playfully pecking at his friend's left ear.

After catching his breath, and a good, stern lecture from his Nana, Shen went back on his way to the infirmary.

It only took five seconds for the dark, thoughtful mood prior to the roughhousing contest to return.

The panther lay on the bed. He was still undressed, save for his pants, which had been returned, and his hands were behind his head, his legs shackled and chained at the ankle to the bedpost. Shen repressed a shudder as he smiled that familiar, demented smile at his visitor.

"You just can't stay away from me, can you, Sheng Li?"

"I assumed you wanted to know what the Masters Council decided on."

"Well, you know what they say about assumptions..." chuckled Maddohatta, smirking. "But, still, what was the choice? Am I to be sent to prison now?"

"While I think now I'd prefer it, no. You'll be working with us to catch Sangatsu."

Shen jumped, reaching for a blade, as the madman suddenly leapt from the bed, laughing wildly. He stopped when the panther slung one arm over his narrow shoulders, the other held out, as if he was envisioning something glorious. The look on his face was not devious, for once, but more mischievous.

"Oh, frabjous day!" he cried out. "Ah, I take back what I said before! I can see it now! We'll be the greatest – albeit weirdest – team in history! Picture it: Maddohatta and Shen!"

The albino peacock just glared at the panther's bright face suspiciously, saying nothing.

After a while, the maniac's smile faded into a mock pout, and he removed his arm (Shen easily felt himself relax, and relinquished the grip on the knife in his sleeve), crossing both of them and sitting on the bed petulantly.

"Oh, fine! If you want to be _that_ way...we'll make it Shen and Maddohatta. Why is it always me giving away my kudos for the sake of the story, anyway?"

"I won't be alone...Master Shifu told me before the Council Meeting that he would be sending one of the Furious Five with me as well. He hasn't told me which yet was decided during the discussion with the rest of the council. Two others, of my choice, will also be along for the ride."

"All right by me...more playmates," said the madman, shrugging cheerfully.

Shen repressed a shiver...he found it more chilling when the panther acted like this, like a child without an end to his exuberance, than when he was threatening him or others or even twisting at his mind with any of his sick games.

Perhaps because it reminded him of another cat, who actually was a very hyper little kitten...

He shook his head slightly; he had enough trouble wrapping the idea of how similar Maddohatta was to him around his mind. He didn't need to think about Kurisu, too.

"So, am I to be locked up in this infernal nursing quarters till we actually go out?" purred Maddohatta, questioningly, inspecting his claws.

"No," said Shen shortly. "We'll be returning your cane to you..."

"And my hat?"

"Yes, and your hat."

"My coat?"

_"Yes."_

"Perfect! When can I have them?"

Shen responded by flinging a dagger at the chain on the madman's ankle. It fell apart. The panther stood calmly, eyeing his freed leg and twisting his foot experimentally.

"Follow me...and no tricks," hissed Shen, and turned away.

The panther grinned, and followed him, hands behind his back and legs moving in an exaggerated march.

Shen lead him down the hall. As the peacock ignored the suspicious glances of Masters Crane and Viper, who had been in the hall conversing, the panther grinned at them broadly and waved in greeting.

No one said a word.

Shen knocked on the door of a room, and went in.

"Don't wander off," he said as threateningly as he could to the panther before vanishing.

"Yes, mommy," giggled the panther, and leaned casually against the wall, smirking smugly.

Shen rolled his eyes and shut the door behind him.

Maddohatta just grinned to himself, laughing softly. He looked around, taking in everything...the smell of the incense, the colors of the walls, the hardness of the floor...

"What are YOU doing here?" growled a voice.

The panther glanced in the direction from which the voice had come from.

Master Tigress stood just outside the hallway, golden eyes blazing, fists clenched.

Maddohatta grinned a little wider. She looked about ready to either eat him or shove his head through a stone wall.

Or both.

"The bird-brain's in there," he said coolly, jabbing his thumb at the door. "Talking to someone...he let me loose."

This did nothing to still the Tigress.

"A formerly insane warlord supervising a still-insane assassin? Is that supposed to make me calm down?"

The panther cocked his head slightly.

"You don't like him, do you?"

The Tigress did not answer. She only growled louder.

The panther giggled wildly.

"You're funny," he said in a childish voice, and then closed his eyes, leaning back comfortably.

He waited until he heard the Tigress leave, then opened them again.

"They've lied, you know," he called out.

After about two seconds, Tigress returned, looking suspicious and confused.

"Who?" she snarled.

"Everybody in the Valley. Most especially your beloved master...my little monster."

Tigress' eyes widened.

Maddohatta smirked.

"You all didn't think that Sheng Li was the ONLY person I made sure to find out everything I could about, did you? Oh, no. I like to know EVERYTHING, about _EVERYONE _I meet. And you are not what they call you."

The panther smirked wider, bracing himself when the Tigress practically lowered into a fighting stance, eyes smoldering with the purest hatred.

"And what is that?" she spat.

"The best student here."

There was a pause.

"Let us consider something, Madam Tigress: the five cornerstones of your art, kung fu, are patience, courage, discipline, confidence, and compassion, aren't they? Your lack of social behavior has told me you lack confidence among people of any kind, meek or strong. Your stony heart and practical extermination of most emotions toward most others, including your fellow masters, tell me you have only the barest shred of compassion. You have confused courage for rash action in battle...you are of a strategic mind, but brutal skillset. And don't get me started on patience and discipline...on that note, when was the last time you played with your dominoes?"

Not another word was said. The Tigress roared at him, and disappeared.

Maddohatta just chuckled.

_She IS funny..._

Shen appeared. Either he hadn't heard Tigress' roar, or was good at pretending he hadn't.

In his wings was Maddohatta's tailcoat, washed and mended, the gold on its shoulders nad cuffs glistening. The panther smiled and took it up, immediately putting it on.

"You fixed my little jacket for itty, bitty me?" he purred, batting his eyes. "I'm touched."

"Come on," was all Shen said. He lead Maddohatta deeper into the Palace.

Maddohatta's ears twitched as he looked up at the large, red, iron-clad door, designed with a frightening image of an Oni's face, that they stopped at.

"This is the Hall of Battles," said Shen. "Heard of it?"

"Actually, no...what is this?"

"While the fabled Hall of Warriors holds the ancient relics of ancient kung fu masters, this place stores relics from famous battles."

The panther's eyes lit up.

"And you added my hat and cane-sword to your collection? Why, Sheng Li, I'm touched yet again!"

Shen said nothing.

The panther looked around, genuinely amazed with all he saw.

"Egad!" he cried out, clapping his hands together. "Look at all these beautiful _toys!"_

There was so much to see: the armor of the ape that had been Master Viper's first enemy, the cage that had held Master Mantis during a battle against a troupe of Crocodile Bandits, a small urn labeled "Tai Lung," Xun's war hammer, a familiar halberd...

And, to the panther's immediate delight, a hat and dragon-topped cane.

He laughed happily, quite literally dancing up to his treasured objects.

"Calloo! Callay! Huzzah and hooray!" he sang out, laughing as he held his hat up to his face, nuzzling it like it was a teddy bear. "Oh, I'll never leave you again...!"

The panther kissed his top hat on the brim, and then gently placed in its rightful place upon his black-furred head. He took up his cane, twirled it in one hand, and slammed it into the floor theatrically, leaning on it. His claws immediately went up to his trimmed, combed whiskers, twirling them in satisfaction as a low, rumbling purr echoed in his chest.

"Much better," he purred. "How do I look?"

"Like yourself," was Shen's curt, unimpressed reply.

"So," Maddohatta said, following him out of the room. "What next?"

"Do you know why Sangatsu might have stolen that scroll?"

"Hmm..." murmered the assassin, stroking his chin thoughtfully with one paw, cane leaned against his shoulder with the other. "I seem to recall Giao Xun had wanted him to take something from the Library you mentioned...something about a mystical amulet..."

Here he chuckled.

"Of course, I didn't get to hear much...this is just before I was tossed out on my ear, so to speak."

"So you don't know anything else?"

"Only this: Sangatsu craves control, as does Giao Xun. He's likely hiding near the valley, if not in it, someplace where he can be well protected and well hidden. He lacks my flair for the dramatic, and has equal problems with anything resembling style or class, so it'll be a conservative place...no abandoned temples or forts for him!"

"So it would be small...an abandoned house or storage place, then?"

"Correct-a-mundo, my fine feathered fink!"

Shen nodded.

"Then I'll inform Shifu and the other students...we'll have a search party out for suspicious activity in those types of areas."

"And then what?" asked the madman, tail whisking about in pleasure.

Shen glanced at him quickly, refusing to smirk.

"Then, Maddohatta, you can have your chance to kill something."

The panther laughed in response.

Shen exhaled deeply through his nose in a mixture of irritation and worry.

_I knew I'd regret this..._


	10. Chapter 10

Notes: My apologies to my readers: my brain has been dull recently, at least in regards to this story. Not much really happens here...I'm not all that fond of this chapter. Not really. However, those of you who wanted to know which member of the Five would be joining our "heroes" are about to get your answer...I thought I made it obvious, but, with so many people asking, I suppose I didn't. Now...

**Chapter 10: Unsteady Beginning**

It was four more days before the search party found any trace of Sangatsu. The new lieutenant of Giao Xun was finally reported as being seen by a family of rabbits. The panther had left the city, and, along with three other cats, had behaved "suspiciously" in the eyes of the commoners.

Since there were no panthers in the Valley – aside from one very special one inside the Jade Palace – it was obvious who these cats were.

Apparently the panthers had ventured to Din Mang Village, far away from the Valley...the cab they had boarded had taken them to the docks, and from the docks they departed for Din Mang.

Riding a ferry with a lunatic on board was risky, but there was no other choice.

Shen found Maddohatta inside the training grounds...the panther was facing the immense training machines, used to test only the highest level students. Shifu had reluctantly given him access to the training facility at the suggestion that the assassin's skills might be dulled from lack of practice and his still-healing form.

The panther's sword sliced through wood and iron as the spikes and traps snapped and slammed around him. He leaped and spun and ducked with infinite grace. At one point he dashed through a passage of fire-spitting dragons...without even singing his tail. He took the knife from his belt and sliced his way through a barrier of spinning, spiked poles, and kicked away a basket of iron weights that fell towards him as he slid out.

He paused, smiled, and sheathed both blades.

"Well, that was fun," he purred. "Anyone for Peking duck?"

He laughed.

"I see you're feeling better," Shen observed calmly.

"Quite," said the panther simply. "So, any news on the subversive who tried to assassin the assassin?"

"If you mean Sangatsu, yes...he's heading for Din Mang, far off from here."

Maddohatta grinned wider.

"So we follow him?"

"Yes, we follow him."

"Perfect!" the panther almost squealed in delight. "I can't wait to squeeze the life out of him! Yes," he then hissed, talking to himself, "that's it! I'll wrap my claws around his neck and just twist and squeeze until he stops squiggling around...I love the color their faces turn when I do that..."

"Er...yes," Shen said, finding that thought quite disturbing, and cleared his throat, "anyway, I'm here to tell you a few other things."

"Shoot! But not literally, of course," purred the cat in the hat, leaning on his cane.

"If we are going to be working together, I need you to make me one promise..."

"Yes? Don't keep us in suspense, Sheng Li!"

"You can't. Hurt. Anyone."

The panther tilted his head slightly.

"What about Sangatsu?"

"Well...he's different. But his men, and anyone else we meet, you leave alive: no killing allowed. The soldiers we can question, and the bystanders are..."

"Innocent?"

The panther spoke the word as if he didn't believe it existed.

"Yes. Exactly."

The panther sighed dismally.

"Well...it isn't really me...but I suppose that if my partner commands, I must obey!"

Here he bowed, sweeping the top hat from his head elegantly, then standing again and just as swiftly and smoothly replacing it.

"Anything else?"

"Yes. As I told you before, three others will be joining us..."

"The Wolf Boss and the kitten are among them, I trust?"

"Yes."

"Knew it!" laughed the panther, snapping his fingers triumphantly. "And the member of the Five you mentioned?"

Shen clenched his beak hesitantly.

"Tigress."

Maddohatta's eyebrows shot up, but he did not look fearful, nor even surprised.

Delighted was the better choice of description.

"Really?" he purred, in a voice that sounded too innocent to be true. "How did she get the part?"

"Grandmaster Shifu brought the Five together and asked them which would prefer the duty...Master Tigress was the first to step up, and the other members, and the Dragon Warrior, all agreed she'd be the best candidate to help...supervise you."

The panther chuckled.

"I knew it would work," he muttered darkly.

Shen raised an eyebrow, but thought nothing more of the matter.

"Our boat leaves in less than two hours. Whatever you need, pack up. I'll meet you outside the Palace in exactly twenty minutes."

Maddohatta sighed.

"Always in such a hurry."

Then he giggled.

"Well," he said softly, "this should be an interesting trip..."


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11: Mad as the Mad Hatter**

The trip to Din Mang had not exactly been fun; of the five people on the boat, only three trusted each other, and two of them were questioning the others sanity. The fourth individual kept to herself, and trusted...well, pretty much nobody. As for the fifth...

Well, frankly, if anyone could trust him, they were either very stupid, or knew something no one else did.

The trip on the ferry had been a quiet, tense one. The panther had, strangely, proved to be very little trouble; for the most part he just sat back on the boat, smiling in that content, but sickening, way, with his cane held against the back of his neck, legs crossed, and eyes closed. From time to time he would hum something, but otherwise was oddly quiet.

Sheng Li was secretly thankful for that; Maddohatta's mind games, poems, and bad jokes had been enough to put up with already. At least he wouldn't have to hear them en route to the town.

Sadly, upon arrival in the city, the first person to say anything was the cat in the hat.

"Well, finally," he growled. "And here I thought the ferry was as slow as the last one you took, Sheng Li."

There was a collective sigh of frustration.

"I knew it was too good to last," mumbled Shen.

The five stepped off the boat.

"So, where to?" asked Xun.

"We need a place to stay, so, I suppose the local inn, or something..."

"Which is where?" asked Kurisu, her eyes flitting back and forth between Shen and Maddohatta, who didn't seem to notice her.

Shen responded by catching the attention of a passing merchant – a sheep – who was toting a cart of fabrics.

"Excuse me," said the peacock, bowing slightly, "can you tell my friends and I, here, how to get to the inn? We need a place to stay."

The sheep eyed the peacock up and down, and then shrugged.

"Sorry," she brayed. "But it won't do you any good: the inn's full up. There are no vacancies available."

Shen blinked.

"Then...can you think of any other place we can find?"

"Well, there's always the street," said the sheep with a sneer, and left without another word.

"Well, that was rude..."

"Great. Now what?" growled Xun.

"I'm not sure. I suppose we could buy a few things, set up camp-"

"I am NOT sleeping in an alley!" hissed Kurisu.

"Have you got a better idea?" snapped Shen.

"Hey! Where's the panther?"

This sudden shout caught the wolf, the peacock, and the kitten by surprise for two reasons: first, because it was spoken by Master Tigress. Second, because they immediately knew what that meant.

"Oh, no..."

"Took the words out of my mouth, Xun..."

Immediately, all four began looking around.

Thankfully, they didn't have far too look.

It was, of course, Shen who found the self-proclaimed Mad Hatter. He spotted him outside the door of a house, talking to the mistress of the place.

"Over here!" he called to the peacock. "You can thank me later!"

He then turned back to the woman at the door, a rabbit.

"I thank you so much...my comrades and I just need to stay a few days...if we become too much trouble, or something..."

"Oh, no, no trouble at all," smiled the rabbit. "You can stay as long as you like...but, do you have any food of your own?"

"I believe we do, yes...why?"

"Well, I only have enough to feed my family...I won't be shopping for more for some time. Business at the marketplace has been slow, lately."

"I see. Well, that won't be a problem. How much will it cost?"

"Well...I'll wait and tell you. I don't think you and your friends will be difficult, but I'd rather figure out a sum after you've stayed. If you need to stay longer than a week, I'll tell you then. If your stay is only for a week, or less, I'll ask for payment then. But it won't be much."

"My thanks," purred the panther, bowing gracefully. "You honestly have no idea how much help you are."

The rabbit shrugged with a smile.

Maddohatta grinned at the four approaching figures. All were staring at him with an expression of shock.

"I like to keep my claws clean," he said simply. "Alleyways and I just don't mix, or don't you remember?"

He bowed again to the owner of the house.

"These are my friends, ma'am," he said with a smile. "Do you recognize any of them?"

The rabbit looked at the four for a moment.

"Well...not really. Should I?"

"Well, one or two of them, maybe..."

"Beg pardon?"

"Nothing, nothing," purred Maddohatta, waving a paw dismissively. "May we come in?"

"Yes, of course!" smiled the rabbit, and opened the door a little wider. The panther nodded to her again in thanks and entered.

The other four followed, with more than a little hesitation.

"Nice place," murmered Xun.

"Thank you," said the merchant woman. "My husband bought it...he passed away a while ago, before..."

She never finished her sentence.

At that moment a small figure let out a whoop of joy and ran into the room. A large frog hopped around as the tiny rabbit tried to catch it.

The frog leapt into the air as the young rabbit tried to grab it...and landed on the head of the Wolf Boss.

Within half a second, Xun was on the floor, the frog was out the door, and the rabbit child was staring into the eyes of a very irritated wolf.

_"Get. Off."_

The boy nodded and did so immediately.

Kurisu giggled, while Shen tried his best not to smile.

The panther, for his part, just grinned. The rabbit child had set his sights on him, and neither had taken their eyes off the other.

"Yours?" purred the cat, pointing his cane at the boy, who stepped back a bit.

"Yes," sighed the mistress of the house. "This is my son, Ling."

"Ling," purred the panther softly, the name rolling off his tongue carefully. "Good name. It means 'delicate,' yes?"

"Yessir," mumbled the young rabbit.

The black cat grinned a little wider, but said nothing else.

"Now what were you up to?" asked the mother.

"Chasing frogs," was the reply as the child pointed in the direction the frog had gone.

"Go wash up; I'll make some dinner."

The child nodded, and scampered off.

The mother smiled apologetically at Xun.

"I'm sorry. Ling's just..."

"Trust me, I'm used to it," said the wolf, shrugging it off.

"He won't trouble you; I'll try to make sure of it."

"Oh, it's no trouble," purred Maddohatta. "I, for one, like kids."

Shen shuddered.

_You certainly do..._

The group were lead upstairs by the rabbit matron.

"There are five of you, but only four rooms..."

"Two of us will pair up," said Shen. "We don't mind."

"All right. You all have a good sleep, and, if you want to join us for dinner...well, you heard me the first time."

"We certainly did," chuckled the Hatter. "Good evening, madam."

The rabbit smiled, and went back downstairs.

There was a pause. The panther grinned widely, proudly, like a small boy waiting for a compliment.

"Well?" he purred. "Don't you have anything to say?"

"...I'm with Shen."

Master Shen sighed.

"We know that, Kurisu..."


	12. Chapter 12

Notes: "Hello, readers! My name's J, what's yours?" ;) Seriously, though, I'm sorry for not updating in such a long time; a mix between writer's block and school work kept me away. But, with my newest annual Christmas fic done, and two months worth of break time, I can focus on other works...including this one. Also, on that note, you have NO IDEA how long it took to write this chapter...and I'm STILL not satisfied. Curse my lust for absolute perfection! (Which can never be reached!) With that in mind, please, be nice, but any suggestions/advice you may have are welcome...even if it's something as simple as pointing out a spelling/grammar mistake.

I hesitate to even call this a chapter. These were just two very simple, short ideas that I had that I decided to include in the story. But fear not: ACTION SCENES NEXT CHAPTER! (Maybe...)

**Chapter 12: Full Moon and Sunrise**

It was midnight, and the house was still and sleeping. The mother rabbit and her son were in their beds, as were the Tigress, Xun, Shen and Kurisu, and, of course, Maddohatta...

Or, at least, they were, until one of the doors creaked open...and two pairs of canine ears perked up.

The gray wolf rubbed at his good eye, and, after a moment, moved to the door; he had just fallen asleep a few minutes ago, unable to rest after the events of the past few days, and, while he slept heavily, it hadn't been long enough for him to "die" on his bed. (As Shen was so fond of putting it.)

He peered out, and raised his eyebrow when he saw the door to the panther's room open.

Carefully, he moved over, claws ready, and cautiously opened the door...

He couldn't repress a sigh of relief when he saw the panther over by the window, staring out into the night, paws folded behind his back.

"Did I wake you?" purred the cat, not turning around.

"No, I'm sleepwalking," snarled the wolf.

The cat glanced at him, smirked, and turned away again.

"Your sense of humor avails you still, I see."

"Why'd you open the door, anyway?"

The panther shrugged.

"Wanted attention; it's a weakness of mine."

"Whose attention? Shen's?"

"Actually, no...anyone would have done well."

"Shouldn't you be asleep? You know, dreaming of ways to torture people, or something?"

The panther chuckled.

"I don't sleep much, puppy-face," he purred. "And, when I do, I don't dream of death, destruction, or decay...reality gives me quite enough of that. I dream only to escape; dreams are the opium of the mind. It's not always clear what we get from them, but what is clear is they allow us to remove reality's grim truths from our heads...for better or worse."

Here he turned around again, this time facing the wolf fully. The Hatter's red eyes glowed dimly in the darkness.

"What do you dream about, wolfy?" he purred.

"Well, honestly, I usually don't; I'm dead to the world."

The panther grinned a little wider.

"I wish THAT were true," he growled, and turned away again.

There was a pause.

"Mind games won't work on me," said the wolf, abruptly. "I don't have enough brains for you to twist, anyway."

"I see," was the simple, cold response.

Another pause.

Xun sighed again, irritably.

"What did you want to talk about anyway?"

"Oh, whatever came to mind: shoes, ships...sealing wax...cabbages and kings..."

Xun rolled his eyes, and began to leave...

"And why the SEA is boiling hot, and whether pigs have WINGS..."

Xun stopped; the way he said those words...

He opened the door again.

The panther was looking out the window, calmly.

"What are you talking about?"

"Did it hurt?"

"Did what hurt?"

The panther turned, his smile cold and cruel.

"Dying."

Xun blinked, and shut the door, disappearing once again.

Maddohatta chuckled to himself.

"This is just too easy," he murmured. "I'm in a house filled with guilty consciences..."

He laughed a bit louder.

_"Delicious."_

**The next morning...**

It was the Tigress who awoke first, soon followed by Shen and Kurisu; training at the Jade Palace had made them early risers.

Xun on the other hand...well, it took a while to get him up.

Usually.

While the others went downstairs, Shen went to get Xun.

To his surprise, as soon as he opened the door, the wolf let out a yelp, and sat bolt upright.

He smirked, nevertheless.

"Good morning, Xun."

"Ugh...get that light out of my eyes for a bit, will ya?"

Shen raised an eyebrow, and entered the room.

"Are you all right?"

"Yeah...I'm fine, just...tired. Didn't get much sleep last night..."

Shen blinked.

"That's normally MY problem. Any reason why?"

Xun glared, looking past Shen at the door...almost as if he was seeing through it.

Shen cocked his head, not understanding...then, remembering the door across from Xun's, sighed.

"Oh...I see."

"I don't trust him, Shen; I bet he's just waiting for one moment...one small moment...and he'll kill us in our sleep."

"I have to say that I doubt it; that's not Maddohatta's way of working."

Now it was Xun's turn to raise an eyebrow.

Shen sighed.

"That panther craves attention."

"Hmph. You're telling me..."

"What?"

"Nothing."

"Right...well, anyway, I'm fairly sure if he's going to try and kill us – which is VERY likely – he's going to do it in daylight...but, with that said, keeping your eyes open probably is a good idea."

No sooner had the words left Shen's mouth than the door opened.

Kurisu stood there, looking...well, Shen couldn't quite place the expression on her face: she seemed confused, surprised, angry, and amused...all at the same time.

"What's wrong?"

"Well...just come and take a look."

Shen and Xun looked at each other, and then followed her, down the stairs to the kitchen, where Tigress stared into the room, blankly.

Their faces quickly matched hers as they peered into the kitchen.

Maddohatta was seated on the table, while the small rabbit, Ling, sat on the floor, cross legged, looking up at him. The panther grinned up at Shen.

"Ah," he purred. "It seems our whole company is here. Shall I perform my little magic trick again, so they can see, as well?"

The rabbit nodded excitedly. Maddohatta chuckled, and, with a smirk, held his paws up, showing them to the rabbit-child.

"Empty-handed," he purred, and then made a show of checking his sleeves, showing them to the boy. "And nothing up my sleeves..."

The panther held his arms out at full length, took a deep breath, as if he was concentrating hard...

He twirled his hands, flicked his fingers...and a playing card flipped into his paw.

He handed it to the child who clapped, and grinned before getting off the table-top.

"There, kid; keep it if you like."

The rabbit nodded, and ran off, nearly bumping into Kurisu as he did.

All four turned to the cat in the hat with looks that verged on shock.

The panther crossed his arms, smirking.

"A magician never reveals his secrets...ANY of them," he purred, looking meaningfully at the peacock, and then turned away. "The mother is out; you know the rules, we need to cook for ourselves...that is, if whatever you've packed even requires cooking..."

"You aren't fooling anyone."

The panther turned again, smiling a tad wider.

"I don't NEED to fool anyone, Sheng Li; I just need to know HOW."

_Whatever that means..._

"With that being said," the cat went on, setting the chairs around the table back up, "You leave the boy to me: when I said I liked kids, I meant it...granted, I meant it in more ways than one, but I still meant it."

There was silence.

The panther broke it – as usual – by sniffing at the air.

"Off topic...do any of you smell smoke?"

Just then, a sharp bell rang out, somewhere down the street.

The Tigress ran to the door, and looked out.

She growled.

"We should have," she said. "It's the local mill. It's on fire."


	13. Chapter 13

Notes: A quick mention: as some of you know, my avatar – a concept sketch of Maddohatta (with a blue coat, rather than a red one) – was drawn by fellow author Arceus . Conberma . I liked it so much, I have decided to try something new: while I have no money to COMMISSION, I would like to make a REQUEST, not just to Arceus . Conberma, but all artists who read and enjoy my stories, to create a specific image: I would like a picture depicting Hatta fighting Shen. It's simple as that. If anyone here is interested, please, let me know, via review or PM. Whenever the image is complete, tell me! (I'll try not to bug you if you "accept this mission", but, as I'm sure Arceus (if you're reading this, can I just call you "Arceus?") will tell you, "try not" does not equal "will not." I'm excitable. ) Please note that the image of Maddohatta in the concept art is just one artist's depiction; if you envision him slightly different, please, tell me. If you want specifics, ask me, or just look to the stories, or both (the moustache-whiskers are a detail I never mention). Please note that I am not DEMANDING anything, and, if no one wants to do this, I will not mind at all. It just occurred to me a few days ago, honestly, and any artwork would be GREATLY appreciated. Thank you in advance, should you ask. God Bless. :)

Also: I know nothing about kung fu and its styles...well, almost nothing. Why am I saying this? Because we have Tigress fighting here, and she uses tiger style, which I only know involves little to know defensive maneuvers, using only attacks. If, in this or future chapters/stories, any style seems...loose, know that that's because I really don't know anything. Perhaps some research is in order...

Ahem! Now, with all that out of the way...

**Chapter 13: Familiarity Breeds Insanity**

Sangatsu flung the unconscious body of the miller to the ground. People scattered and fled as the flames engulfed the building, stretching into the sky. Panthers leapt out of the wreckage, each carrying bits of machinery.

"Take the parts to the hideout. We'll contact the general upon arrival."

"Hideout? Oh, PLEASE, Sangatsu. That is SO last dynasty! Ha HA!"

That voice instantly made the commander turn, whipping out his katana, as the soldiers carrying parts stopped short. A group of soldiers without parts crowded around him, knives drawn.

"Hatta," he snarled. "You survived."

"Oh, please! I fell off a temple, over a cliff, and into the sea before you got to me! Did you really think I wouldn't be spry as a cricket?"

"Yes. I did. I mistake I shall not make again."

The commander snapped his fingers, and two panthers leapt at Maddohatta...

Their knives were suddenly knocked out of their grasp as a pair of feather-shaped blades flew towards them.

Shen landed beside the cat in the hat, who lowered into a fighting stance, cane held like the sword it contained. Xun, the Tigress, and Kurisu were close behind them.

"Lord Shen," growled Sangatsu. "We meet again."

He barked out something in Japanese, and the soldiers carrying the machine bits ran off in the opposite direction. With a roar, the Tigress pursued them.

"Xun, you and Kurisu follow Master Tigress!"

The wolf nodded, and followed. The kitten glanced at the panther beside Shen, and, reluctantly, did the same.

Sangatsu smirked at the two opponents before him. He hissed in Japanese to his men...

And ran after the soldiers with the machines.

"Coward," hissed Maddohatta softly.

"Remember our bargain," Shen whispered.

And the fight began.

The two panthers without knives lunged for their former leader, who jumped over their heads. His cane lashed out, and one fell, paralyzed, while the second, managed to dodge, and launched a kick. The madcat smiled, blocking the strike, and replied with a spinning kick of his own, sending his opponent flying.

Shen flew into the air, sending volley after volley of knives toward the panthers, knocking their own knives out of their grasps. He landed on one, slamming into the ground, and fanned out his tail, sending two more to the floor. One more threw a punch towards him. He grabbed it with his talon, and, with a quick twist, sent it sprawling.

Sangatsu and the panthers with machines stopped short, as one of them let out a yowl, dropping their end of a long pipe that it and another one had been carrying.

They turned, and two of them – Sangatsu and a nameless nobody – were thrown to the ground, each pinned by either a wolf or a tiger, while the one that had started it tried desperately to remove the blue kitten that clung to his head and scratched at his eyes, hissing in rage.

Sangatsu flung the Wolf Boss off him, and drew his sword with a sneer, lunging fast. The Wolf Boss quickly moved away, and grabbed the dropped pipe, blocking a second strike. The Tigress, meanwhile, knocked her opponent out with a single punch, and then proceeded to kick at a second panther who approached, hitting his arm (VERY hard) and sending his knife skittering away as he screamed.

Behind them, Shen jumped to the roof, himself now being pursued by a panther who carried two knives, having picked one up off the ground that his comrades had dropped. He parried one blow with a knife of his own, and dodged another. He flipped in the air, tossing his knife as he did, but the panther skillfully dropped, avoiding the blade, and kicked out at the peacock.

On the ground below him, Maddohatta blocked blow after blow from a single, conscious panther, who was growling and groaning with exertion, enraged with the desire to kill the figure before him. The cat in the hat merely smirked at him, chuckling to himself; it would be so easy to just knock away the knife and finish this now...but the look on his foe's face was too priceless to resist as every attempted attack missed its mark.

But, alas, all good things must end.

He dodged a slice, throwing his opponent off, who had expected either another block or, at last, a bit of blood...and then drew his sword from its hiding place, and slashed at the legs of his foe, who hissed in pain and dropped...

At this point reader you must pay close attention, because several things happened at once.

One: Sangatsu backflipped away, and then lowered, ready to continue, while Xun threw away the pipe and got down on all fours, snarling.

Two: The Tigress wrapped her tail around one opponent's arm, spun around, knocked them out cold, and then kicked away a second panther.

Three: Kurisu's foe, covering his scratched face, blindly tried to stab her, and ended up, quite comically, slamming into the wall of a nearby building as the kitten rolled out of the way.

Four: Maddohatta smiled to himself, lifting up his foe by the neck, and bringing back his blade.

_To heck with the bargain, _he thought. _Off with his head!_

And five: Shen glanced down, and saw the cat in the hat, poised, ready to kill...

He opened his mouth to call out...

And a kick slammed into his skull. Dazed, he fell back, and, unable to stop himself in time, tumbled off the roof.

The sound of a sickening _**CRACK!**_ echoed everywhere.

Maddohatta quickly turned to where a white, black, and red peacock lay, unmoving, on the ground.

Something...snapped.

_Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall..._

_ Just then flew down a monstrous crow..._

_ And took them quite away..._

The panther in his paws was thrown aside, unconscious, and he lunged for the panther that stood over Shen, one knife aimed for the bird's heart. He barreled into the other cat, slamming him into a wall, and wrenched both knives away, before flinging him towards the commotion not so far away...

The panther's flying form slammed into a second panther, who had been trying to fend off the Tigress, after passing between Xun and Sangatsu, who both turned in the direction it had come from...

To see the cat in the hat crouched down over a seemingly lifeless Master Shen.

"SHEN!"

Xun ran, while Sangatsu yelled something to his men, and took off running. The other panthers grabbed their parts and followed, while the Tigress watched as a wolf and a kitten ran to where Shen lay.

"They're getting away!" she roared.

No one paid any attention.

The "Hatter" bent down beside Shen, placing two fingers against the peacock's throat.

A short moan and a pulse sent a strange sense of relief through him.

He growled, anyway.

"Hey! Sheng Li! Wake up, bird-boy!" he hissed, and slapped the peacock's face.

Hard.

Two "OW"s sounded out: one was Shen, as he opened his eyes, head fuzzy and aching, face stinging, and vision blurry. The other was the panther, as a gray paw wrapped grabbed him by the front of his collar and pushed him against the wall, a very angry gray wolf snarling in his face, jaws dangerously close to his neck...

"Shen!"

Shen gasped in pain as Kurisu jumped on him, looking at him, scared to death.

"Shen, you all right?"

"I-I think so, kitty...please, get off..."

The kitten obeyed, and Shen unsteadily got to his feet, wing to his head, where it REALLY hurt...

And stared, wide-eyed, at the wolf, holding the panther against the wall.

_"What. Did. You. Do?" _growled Xun.

Maddohatta smirked back.

"Nothing you would believe," he responded, clearly unfazed.

The wolf's grip moved to the wildcat's throat, and he leaned in closer.

"Don't lie to me, you-"

"Um...Xun?"

The wolf turned.

"Shen. What happened?"

"I...I think I fell. Off the roof."

"You mean he pushed you?!"

"No...I was fighting somebody else. One of Sangatsu's men. They managed to kick me, and..."

"And?"

Shen stared at the panther, who smiled back.

"Everything's black after that."

There was silence, and the Wolf Boss, hesitantly, released Maddohatta, who put a hand to his neck, rubbing it, panting for breath.

"We lost them," said Tigress, walking up, eyes narrowed, trained on the panther, who ignored her.

"We'll find them," said Shen. "We'd better head back to where we're staying."

He took a step...and nearly fell over again. Thankfully, a gray arm moved to hold him up.

"You sure you're all right."

"My head...hit it pretty hard..."

"He may have a concussion."

All eyes turned to the panther, who was straightening his jacket, his face set in a rare frown.

"You might want to check," he added, and fell silent.

No one responded.

They just walked away.

Maddohatta sighed to himself, picking up his cane.

"A simple 'thank you' would be nice..."


	14. Chapter 14

Notes: This chapter is very...different from some of my others. Just warning you guys. Now...

**Chapter 14: Nothing Is What It Seems...**

Shen couldn't sleep.

_I should sleep,_ he thought. _With so much to do tomorrow...with Sangatsu still loose..._

_...But I just can't sleep._

He lay in bed, quietly, a feathered hand absent-mindedly stroking the kitten who was curled up asleep on his stomach, purring loudly, her own sleep seemingly content.

Normally, having his Itty Bitty Kitty with him would be enough to ease the peacock.

Tonight, it seemed, it wasn't.

He knew what was wrong...yet, in any other situation, it shouldn't have seemed "wrong" at all.

He touched a feathered finger to the bandages on his head.

It was nothing too bad, the doctor had said. By morning, he should be completely well...but, had not a certain madcat intervened, it could have been a LOT worse.

And that was what bugged Shen.

Why? Why had Maddohatta HELPED him? Granted, he couldn't exactly KILL him, with the two of them working together...but why save his life?

And, moreover...would Shen, himself, have done the same in a similar situation?

He hadn't gotten any answers: the panther had locked himself into his quarters. According to Xun, he hadn't even come out to eat, and, when Shen came to try his hand at coming in, knocking on the door...he had gotten no reply.

Not willing to barge into a room in a house that wasn't theirs by breaking the door in any way, Shen had let him be.

Now, in the middle of the night, he pondered, weak and weary, pondering over what had happened, and trying to figure out the workings of a madman.

He didn't think it would be as hard as it was proving.

He sighed softly to himself.

_Perhaps this is just another part in his game...wouldn't surprise me..._

**CLANG!**

The kitten opened her eyes, startled awake, while Shen craned his neck, unable to properly sit up, and narrowed his eyes, as if he was trying to see through the door.

"Wh-what was that?" mumbled the kitten.

"Not sure," said Shen, and rose slowly, holding Kurisu against him, and placed her back on the bed.

"I'll go see. You just go back to sleep."

"But-"

The kitten stopped short at the look Shen gave her.

She yawned, then pouted.

"Fine," she grumbled.

Shen nodded, and left the room.

The blue kitten had closed her eyes before the door even shut back up.

The peacock moved to the stairs, and gazed down.

The noise had come from down there...everything was dark, the lamps put out a while ago.

Slowly, carefully, Shen moved downstairs, eyes straining in the dark.

As he came towards the kitchen, he peered in, trying to find the source of the sound...

Suddenly, an arm shot out, and grabbed his wing, pulling him into a corner.

Shen hissed, and reached for a knife...

"Shh!" hissed a voice. "Don't speak! Don't move!"

Shen blinked, surprised.

"Maddohatta?"

The panther was barely visible in the dark - his black fur saw to that - and, were it not for his voice, and the unmistakeable silhouette his hat and coat created in the moonlight, Shen might have mistaken the red-eyed panther for someone else entirely, for one simple reason...

Never, not once, had he seen the cat in the hat...frightened.

And not only frightened, but clearly panicking, if the hyperventilated breaths and terror-stricken look in his crimson eyes were any indicator. The cat's heartbeat was so fast that, in the close quarters, Shen swore he could HEAR it.

"Shh!" the cat hissed again, holding Shen in a death grip. Crouched in the corner, he pulled the peacock down to his level, and his eyes darted about.

Shen was just about to ask what was wrong, when...

"It's coming."

The grim, fearful voice was so unlike the "Hatter" Shen knew, he was seriously starting to think this was a dream.

"What's coming?" he asked, confused.

"The Jabberwock."

Shen blinked.

"The what-?"

A paw clamped over his beak.

_**"LOWER YOUR VOICE, SHENG LI!"**_ Maddohatta almost roared, then dropped his voice to a deadly whisper, "It already knows we're here...it can _smell _us...hear us _BREATHING..."_

Shen rolled his eyes and pushed the paw away.

"What on Earth are you talking about?" he whispered.

The panther glared.

"I am not talking about anything on Earth," he said grimly.

"...Come again?"

The panther gazed at him for a moment.

Then, that ominous, chanting, rasping voice he had used when he told Shen the poem back in the Jade Palace, returned...

"'Beware the Jabberwock, my son! The jaws that bite, the claws that catch! Look out for the Jub-Jub Bird, and shun the frumnious Bandersnatch!'"

The panther gulped, and his eye went to the window nearby. But his eyes weren't looking through the window...at least, not in the usual way...

"'And,'" he went on, slowly, softly, "'As in uffish thought he stood, the Jabberwock, with eyes aflame, came whiffling through the Tulgey Wood, and burbled as it came.'"

He took a deep breath and turned back to Shen.

"It's been after me almost as long as I can remember," he whispered. "It's even more bloodthirsty than I."

Shen gaped, not really sure how to respond; it all sounded like total nonsense to him...yet the panther seemed scared out of his (already lost) mind.

"What does it look like?" he said at last, barely hearing the words out of his own mouth.

Maddohatta shivered.

"Red eyes, dripping fangs, bat wings, the talons of a bird, a body like a snake's..."

He paused.

"I...I've never gotten close enough to see more. Pray that it just leaves, and you won't see yourself. I've no intention of getting a closer look."

Shen clenched his own beak, thoughtfully.

"Where is it?" he asked, as the solution to what might be wrong dawned on him.

The Hatter shut his eyes, releasing the peacock.

"Everywhere..."

The word came out as a whimper.

For about half a second, Shen's eyes flickered with concern.

Then, he remembered the scars on Lanying's wing, back home, and that concern quickly vanished.

"More specific, please?" he said, dryly.

The Cat opened just one eye, and, trembling, pointed at the window.

Shen nodded, and began to move toward the window...

"Not so fast!"

Shen stopped and turned around.

Maddohatta's eyes briefly...very, VERY briefly...shone with that familiar, sinister light Shen was more used to (and, he realized with surprise, actually GLAD to see back in the black cat's eyes).

"Don't want blood everywhere," the cat purred.

Then, the darkness faded, and fear was all that was left.

Shen narrowed his eyes, nodded, and approached more cautiously, more for the panther's sake than his own.

He backed against the counter, beside the window, and, very slowly, peered around the frame, just in case something _was_ out there...

The street was bare. Absolutely nothing, let alone such a strange creature as the madcat had described, was out there. Nothing moving, nothing living.

He raised an eyebrow, and turned back.

The panther looked up, expectantly.

"W-well?"

"I see nothing."

The cat glared coldly.

"Then you are blind. I saw it. I know it."

That was all it took to confirm Shen's suspicions: the maniac was hallucinating.

_Now what?_

That was, indeed, the question: having experienced vivid nightmares and hallucinations himself, Master Shen knew his Nana (or, occassionally, Lady Biming) would help him "ride out the storm," so to speak, by comforting him.

And, while he was always thankful for it (there was no denying THAT, no matter how hard he tried), it still made him feel...vulnerable. Weak.

And, needless to say, a fully grown, demented wildcat who was bent on murder wasn't likely to take to "comfort" well.

After a moment, Shen moved towards the panther, and held out a wing.

The cat eyed him, confused.

"Take it," the peacock said, flatly, all the while fingering the blade in his other sleeve...just in case.

The panther glared.

"Why?"

"I want you to look out there, and tell me if you see anything," Shen said, nodding towards the window.

The cat's eyes widened in horror, and he shook his head fast.

"That beast could tear the Tigress limb from limb before she could even _move_. You think I'll _willingly_ look it in the eye?"

"There is _NOTHING_ out there, Hatta."

The panther froze.

"What...what did you call me?" he hissed, slowly.

Shen raised an eyebrow.

"Hatta. Your full name is too long to be used all the time, isn't it? Especially if we're all staying together..."

The panther held up a paw to silence him.

"Only three other people have called me that," he said after a moment. "And, of those three, one of them is dead, and the other two soon will be."

There was silence.

"I suppose I make a fourth," Shen said at lenght, when it was clear the panther wasn't about to try anything. He leaned his wing in closer. "Now, take it."

The panther looked into the peacock's eyes, then at his wing, then back again.

Shen sighed irritably.

"Look, it's late," he snapped. "Either you take it and let me show you, or I head back to my room, leaving you down here with this...Stabberflock..."

"_Jabberwock."_

"Whatever...to face on your own. Take your pick."

Maddohatta's eyes darted towards the window behind Shen.

He shuddered.

"You...you _are_ sure you saw nothing?"

"Quite sure."

The panther remained still for about three more seconds...then, slowly, he took Shen's feathered hand, and rose to his feet.

Step by step, the peacock led the panther, whose free paw was clenched tight, over to the window.

As the reached the counter, the panther's hand swept across the countertop, and Shen reached for his blade as a small kitchen knife moved into the cat in the hat's paw.

"'He took his vorpal sword in hand,'" the panther mumbled, biting his lip and closing his eyes.

Shen moved back slightly, still holding onto his own knife, and pushed the panther closer.

"Look," he ordered, coolly.

The panther growled, but kept his eyes closed.

"You can't tell me what to do, Sheng Li."

"Look out there, or I'm leaving. Simple as that."

The panther mewled (Shen started to wonder if it was he who was hallucinating, not the black cat), and timidly opened his eyes.

There was a pause as the panther stared down into the street, his eyes searching. Slowly, a sense of surprise, then relief, then confusion came into them...

"I...I saw it. I'm certain of it. I-I HEARD it...it whispers such nasty things..."

Shen said nothing, simply crossing his arms and watching the cat.

Slowly, the panther turned towards Shen, placing the knife carefully back where he had gotten it, his expression unreadable.

"'And hast thou slain the Jabberwock?'"

Not knowing how to reply, Shen said nothing...

Then gasped, stiffened, as the panther suddenly collapsed to his knees, and wrapped his arms around the peacock's thin legs.

"'Come to my arms...oh, frabjous day! Calloo! Callay!'" he whispered, gratefully, voice cracked.

For about a minute, Shen had no words. His mouth opened and closed several times, but no sound came out.

"...Um...you're welcome...?"

"Wh-What? Oh, oh, yes...thank you..."

For a while, there was silence; Shen couldn't move, partially from sheer shock, and partially from the tight grip the cat hand on his legs. As for the panther, he held onto Shen almost for dear life, it seemed, shoulders quivering...the peacock realized he was trying not to cry.

Then, the albino bird felt the arms go limp, and suddenly realized the panther had fallen asleep.

"Er...ahem!"

Shen turned.

Xun and Kurisu both stood in the doorway, each wearing faces even more shocked than Shen's own.

"_Help me,"_ the peacock mouthed.

Both carefully moved forward, and pried the panther loose.

Maddohatta did not awaken; he just lay there, still slumbering.

Quietly, quickly, all three headed back upstairs.

The wolf and the kitten opened their mouths simultaneously...

Then shut them as Shen held up both wings.

"Don't even ask," Shen said simply.

And they didn't.


End file.
